SARs to reopen border if Hong Kong sees no local case for another 14 days

Eligible visitors and returnees entering Macau from Hong Kong may soon be exempt from undergoing mandatory quarantine, provided that Hong Kong has no locally transmitted cases for 28 consecutive days, Dr. Alvis Lo, director of the Health Bureau (SSM), announced yesterday at the Covid-19 media briefing.
This is the first time the Macau government announced the particulars for the possible re-opening, albeit partial, of the Hong Kong-Macau border.
Yesterday marks the 14th consecutive day Hong Kong has not registered any Covid-19 cases within its community. It means that the border between the two cities can be open to eligible people if Hong Kong sees no further related cases between now and July 5.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ao Ieong U, had a virtual meeting with Hong Kong’s Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau yesterday afternoon to outline the framework for the travel facilitation measures between the two cities, Lo said.
Given the absence of medical observation, the authorities from both sides agreed on a set of prerequisites which aspiring travelers must fulfill, with a bid to safeguard public health.
The preconditions include requiring individuals to be fully vaccinated, and multiple Covid-19 tests conducted before and after entering Macau. Travelers will also be barred from participating in “community activities” until they test negative across all the required tests, although this restriction does not apply to day-trippers.
“We will implement the relaxation measures progressively in phases. There will be quotas set for each phase,” Lo stressed.
Exceptions will be granted to those who can provide valid proof that they could not be inoculated due to their age or medical condition, Lo stressed.
On the same day, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet Ngor, together with Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan, also announced the details about the potential relaxed measures on Hong Kong-Macau travel in a press conference.
Lam said that it is difficult for the control points in both cities to accommodate a large number of passengers at the present. As such, there must be an initial quota set for daily travelers, which will start with a small amount and be increased progressively.
A “Circuit Breaker Mechanism” — a system to halt cross-city travel if there is a spike of cases in either city — will also be put in place to protect residents.
The Come2hk Scheme, designed to enable mainland travelers to travel into Hong Kong without the need to observe quarantine, was originally scheduled to launch in May but was postponed due to instances of community transmission. The scheme may kick off after the outbreaks in Guangdong Province are under control, she hinted.