Banqueting restrictions have been relaxed, with regulations on both the number of guests and compulsory nucleic acid testing (NAT) requirements eased.
The relaxed measures for the organisation of banquets took effect yesterday when the Health Bureau amended its guidelines.
According to the new guidelines, public entities, as well as private organisations or community associations whose operations are subsidised by the government, are allowed to hold social dining gatherings for up to 49 guests.
Public entities, as well as private organisations or community associations which receive government subsidies, are only permitted to hold social eating gatherings with 50 to 299 guests “if very necessary”.
However, all those attending or working for such gatherings must present a NAT certificate confirming a negative Covid-19 result, regardless of whether they have been fully inoculated against the novel coronavirus or not.
Individuals or companies, as well as private organisations or community associations which do not receive any government subsidies, are allowed to hold social eating gatherings with up to 299 guests, without the need for those attending or working for such gatherings to undergo a Covid-19 NAT.
Individuals or companies, as well as private organisations or community associations whose operations are not subsidised by the government, are permitted to hold social eating gatherings with 300 or more guests but all those attending or working for such gatherings must present an NAT certificate confirming a negative Covid-19 result, regardless of whether they have been fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus or not.
According to the new guidelines, fully-vaccinated participants and staff at banquets must also present a NAT certificate confirming a negative Covid-19 result valid for seven days, provided that the negative Covid-19 NAT result for those commuting between Macao and Zhuhai is valid for seven days. However, participants and staff members who have not been fully inoculated must present a negative Covid-19 result valid for just 48 hours.
In case the negative Covid-19 NAT result for those commuting between Macao and Zhuhai is valid for just 48 hours or even shorter, fully-vaccinated participants in and staff at banquets must hold a negative Covid-19 result valid for 48 hours, while those who have not been fully inoculated must show a negative Covid-19 result valid for just 24 hours.
Currently, the negative Covid-19 NAT result for those commuting between the two cities is valid for just 24 hours.
The relaxed measures for the organisation of banquets which took effect yesterday are still stricter than the ones that had been implemented before Macao’s latest Covid-19 that began on 18 June.
Before then, there were no official caps on the number of guests attending banquets and other social eating gatherings, regardless of the types of organisers. The major special Covid-19 measure that had been implemented before 18 June was that all those attending or working for banquets with over 400 guests were subject to mandatory NATs.
Since Macao returned to its normalised Covid-19 prevention and control period around three weeks ago, the government has rolled out strict measures for the organisation of banquets, which had been implemented before yesterday and according to which public entities, as well as private organisations or community associations whose operations are subsidised by the government, were barred from holding social eating gatherings with 20 or more guests, while individuals or companies, as well as private organisations or community associations whose operations are not subsidised by the government, were barred from organising meal gatherings with 300 or more guests.
The new measures mean that the government has now lifted its cap on the number of guests attending social eating gatherings organised by individuals or companies, as well as private organisations or community associations whose operations are not subsidised by the government, while social dining gatherings organised by public entities, as well as private organisations or community associations whose operations are subsidised by the government, are still subject to an official cap on the number of guests, that is, they are barred from holding social eating gatherings with 300 or more guests, The Macau Post Daily reported.
