China News Service, Macau, August 12th. Title: The first day of Macau's "Switch": Relaxing entry restrictions but not letting go
China News Agency reporter Long Tuyou
"This is the taste, the authentic old craftsmanship of Macau!" After returning to Macau after half a year, Miss Gong, a tourist from Zhuhai, went straight to Guanye Street in Taipa and bought almond cookies, chicken biscuits, and meat once she passed the Gongbei port. Cut crisps.
The Mainland has suspended personal travel endorsements to Macau since January 28. Due to effective epidemic prevention and control measures, the National Immigration Administration has gradually resumed applications for Mainland residents’ travel endorsements to Macau starting on August 12. Macau will be "open and closed for the first time after the 2020 epidemic" ".
"As soon as I arrived in Macau, I found that the citizens consciously wear masks when they go out, and I quickly took out the masks and put them on, so everyone can rest assured." Ms. Gong, who came to Macau for the first time this year, said that today, she must "buy enough willfully". But first, we must take preventive measures to protect our own safety.
Wei Ruibin, Acting Director of the Exit-Entry Control Department of the Macau Public Security Police, said that on the first day of the "Switch", there was no significant increase in the number of tourists entering Macau in the morning. However, the police are fully prepared to add 7 self-service customs clearance channels in the departure hall and 4 self-service customs clearance channels in the arrival hall, which has increased the "hardware" customs clearance capabilities, and believes that they have sufficient capacity to cope with the future growth of passengers.
According to relevant regulations, after mainland residents resume their visas to Australia, those entering Macau must hold a valid nucleic acid test negative certificate and a green code for the "health code" within 7 days to be exempted from quarantine medical observation for 14 days. Wei Ruibin urged those who pass the customs to complete the declaration and "transcoding" of the Macau health code in advance. Since the mobile phone signal at the port may be crossed and affected, the "transcoding" at the port may cause blockage.
Huang Yaodong, owner of a restaurant in Macau, told reporters that today the restaurant welcomes the first batch of mainland tourists after the epidemic, and he is very excited about "unblocking." "Thank you very much for the care of the motherland, Macau's catering industry can finally breathe a sigh of relief."
Of course, apart from excitement, the first thing to do is to do a good job of epidemic prevention. Huang Yaodong said that now the restaurant has strengthened disinfection and epidemic prevention measures, and the tableware and restaurant environment are strictly disinfected. All employees must wear masks when going to work. At the same time, half of the seats are reduced to keep diners properly Social distancing.
Mr. Ou, a Macau resident, said that he hopes that the continuous resumption of personal travel will drive Macau's economic recovery, but he is not worried that the opening of personal travel will affect the Macau epidemic. “Because the government has done a good job of epidemic prevention measures, the citizens have also consciously cooperated with the government in epidemic prevention work.”
In an interview with reporters on the same day, the Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region He Yicheng said that the gradual restart of individual travel to Macau from the mainland will support Macau's economy in the second half of the year. However, when the epidemic recurs in Macau, the fuse mechanism will be activated immediately, that is, when the risk level of the epidemic in Macau is adjusted to a medium-to-high level, the relevant measures will be immediately suspended and the 14-day isolation medical observation measures will be resumed. He called on all residents to continue to cooperate with the epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic work, "I believe that as long as everyone guarantees to take anti-epidemic measures, Macao's economy and society will recover better." (End)