If the pandemic situation does not improve in the region, Macau tourism authorities could move most large events planned for the Chinese New Year to later in February.
The 2022 Chinese New Year period falls on February 1 and celebrations culminate with the Lantern Festival on February 15.
“We are still preparing for the Lunar New Year events, including the Golden Dragon Dance, the parade of floats, and the fireworks show. We will closely monitor the development of the epidemic situation in nearby areas […] at the same time, we will also prepare different plans, such as, if necessary, postpone the events to the second half of February,’ Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) PR Director Lam Tong Hou said today (Thursday).
“If the pandemic risk is high we will reinforce prevention measures such as requesting a seven-day nucleic acid test, etc. During the Macau Light Festival, we limited the event area and the number of entries and exits by attendees. People were also required to provide a green health code, use masks and remain at one meter distance of each other”
Local authorities had already advised against organising the customary large banquets over the Chinese New Year due to the rapid and serious spread of the Omicron variant worldwide and in the region.
The government is also pondering to require those entering restaurants and eateries, and certain other indoor venues and facilities where people normally stay for a longer time, to have been inoculated against the novel coronavirus or to have tested negative for Covid-19.
The neighbouring Chinese city of Zhuhai has so far detected 24 cases in its current outbreak, with six detected just between January 18 and 19.
The city has put in place strict pandemic control measures after the discovery of several new cases, launching a citywide nucleic acid testing drive and requiring negative test certificates taken within 24 hours before leaving the city.
Two citywide testing rounds have been carried out in the city’s 2.8 million inhabitants, with all second-round tests coming back negative. A partial lockdown has also been implemented in some Zhuhai areas, targeting Xiangzhou District and Nanping Township.
Meanwhile, Zhongshan tested all its 5.2 million people population between January 17 and 18, the second round in the Guangdong city.
The pandemic policies already led to a sharp decline in tourist entries in Macau. From January 13 to January 19, compared with the previous week, the total number of entries and exits decreased by 44 per cent, with visitor entries and exists decreasing by 38.7 per cent, according to Public Security Police Force data revealed today.
