Macau: little border movement despite new visas

Macau’s authorities have reported a small increase of visitors coming from mainland China after the resumption of visas for Zhuhai.

Macau.- Authorities have revealed little change in the number of tourists entering the city since border restrictions were loosened this week.

According to data from the Public Security Police Force, tourists entering the city increased by 14.5 per cent between August 12 and 13. That represents around 6,800 people.

That comes as the issuance of tourist visas for Zhuhai residents resumed on August 12.

Tourist visas are scheduled to resume for Guangdong on August 26 and then for the whole of China on September 23.

The majority of entries in the city remain from mainland non-resident workers (56,800) and local residents (48,300).

Overall a total of 226,800 entries and exits were reported at local borders yesterday, a 6.8 per cent rise from the prior day.

Police spokeperson Ma Chio Heng said: “In fact, we have not reported a large increase in border movements since August 12 […] We will monitor if movements increase and dispatch more personnel to the borders”.

No local transmitted cases in Macau have been reported for 138 consecutive days, with no imported cases reported for 49 days.