No More COVID Tests on Arrival to Macao SAR

By Lars James Hamer, December 9, 2022

Starting from midnight on December 9, 2022, visitors from low-risk areas on the Chinese mainland will no longer need to undergo any form of COVID-19 testing upon arrival to the Special Administrative Region (SAR).

However, those on the Chinese mainland heading to the SAR from anywhere other than Zhuhai, Guangdong province, will need to complete a COVID-19 test 48 hours before departure.

Anyone who comes from Zhuhai will need a COVID-19 test issued within 24 hours.

This most likely means that unless you fly, take the ferry from Shenzhen or drive directly to Macao, you will still need a 24-hour test result, as traveling by train requires crossing the border on foot from Zhuhai train station.

Persons traveling to Macao from abroad, the Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan or those who have been to high-risk areas on the Chinese mainland in the past five days will still be subject to quarantine (the ‘5+3’ rule).

After the five-day hotel quarantine period has been completed, health codes will turn from red to yellow.

Health codes will turn green after three days (a COVID test should be taken on the third day).

For example:

Your five-day quarantine ends on December 1 and the Macao Health Code turns from red to yellow. A nucleic acid test should be carried out after three days (December 4) and, if the result is negative, your code will turn green.

China recently overhauled many of its 'zero-COVID' policies. Notably, high-risk areas can only be determined by buildings, units, floors or individual apartments. Authorities can not expand a high-risk area at will to include an entire residential community, neighborhood or district, etc.

This means that the chances of you traveling from a high-risk area on the Chinese mainland are slim, so you probably won't have to quarantine once you arrive in Macao.

For a detailed rundown of how to enter Macao, see the article below.

[Cover image via That's/Lars Hamer]