Scheme to shorten waiting period at airport underway

The health authorities are still working on a new scheme that was recently announced regarding the reduced waiting time of arrivals to Macau, following several reports from residents about long waiting hours at the airport to receive nucleic acid test (NAT) reports. 

Travelers entering Macau by plane are required to wait at the airplane for up to two hours while officials sanitize their luggage. They are only permitted to exit the plane once their baggage has been disinfected, after which they must wait for a NAT test upon arrival at Pac On. 

“Under the newly implemented arrangements, the authority still needs time to coordinate with the relevant organizations. We are also discussing with organizations ways to improve these arrangements and shorten the waiting time,” Wong Weng Man, acting chief of the Health Promotion Division of the Health Bureau, said yesterday in a press conference.

In a TDM Forum on Wednesday, Lam Chong, director of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said passengers arriving in Macau by plane from abroad will be required to take a NAT as soon as they land, while still on the runway.

In addition, authorities will allow passengers to be taken to medical observation hotels as their NAT results come out. Until now, passengers were only taken to quarantine hotels after the results of each passenger were known. The waiting period can be up to eight hours. 

Meanwhile, travelers do not need to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination upon arrival to Macau starting from yesterday. LV