The Health Bureau (SSM) is studying new models for quarantine in Macao, looking at the possibility of changing the current two weeks under medical observation to 10 days in a hotel followed by a seven-day post quarantine period.
Leong Iek Hou, who heads SSM’s Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division, said that having studied systems being used in mainland China, the aim is to come up with Macao’s version for a “10+7” model that can meet the city’s Covid-19 prevention needs while also reducing its impact on residents returning to Macao.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has said that he did not rule out the possibility of Macao being able to implement a “7+7” model, meaning seven days of hotel quarantine plus a seven-day post-quarantine period.
Leong said yesterday that the government would implement a “10+7” model first – after obtaining permission from the central government – adding that Macao would only study whether it could implement a “7+7” model after gaining its own experience from the possible implementation of the “10+7” model.
In related news, Leong also reaffirmed that if quarantine-free travel arrangements are implemented between mainland China and Hong Kong, Macao would be “very likely” to also roll out the same arrangements for arrivals from Hong Kong, The Macau Post Daily reported.
