Macau residents will pay cost of second quarantine

The measure applies to Macau residents that travel abroad after already undergoing one obligatory quarantine.

Macau.- Health authorities have announced that all residents will have to pay their own hotels bills if they have to undergo a second mandatory 14-day quarantine.

The measure will apply to all residents who travel abroad after September 1.

Those that have already undergone an obligatory quarantine at a designated hotel after returning home from abroad will then have to pick up the bill if they decide to travel abroad again and undergo another mandatory quarantine on their return.

They will face a MOP5,600 (US$700) charge to cover the cost tests and the 14-day quarantine at a hotel, unless authorities decide they had a special case.

Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) tourism promotion director, Betty Fok, said: “This is because the pandemic situation is becoming more stable so residents need to be more careful when they decide to travel to other countries or regions. Public funds are expended for quarantines so it will be required for residents to cover the expenses for second-time quarantines”.

At the moment, local residents returning from foreign countries, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Nantang Town, Lufeng in Guangdong or Urumqi, Xinjiang are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine.

The current venues available for the quarantine and medical evaluations are the Pousada Marina Infante and the Golden Crown China Hotel, with 1,348 people still under medical observation, including 42 non-resident workers, 525 Macau residents and 781 tourists.

There have been no new cases of Covid-19 in Macau for 59 consecutive days.