Macao adheres closely the strategy of “preventing imported cases and a rebound of the epidemic”, and prudently advances its effort for making epidemic-prevention and -control work part of normal life.

The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, made the comments during a plenary meeting of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, held on Tuesday (15 December) at the Government Headquarters.

The meeting aimed to review the epidemic-prevention and -control work implemented during the COVID-19 alert and strategies for future effort. It was attended by a number of senior officials, and representatives of the 17 public departments assisting the Coordination Centre.

Mr Ho, the Chairman of the Coordination Centre, asked the Government-response team to stay highly vigilant about developments regarding COVID-19, given that the disease had been spreading globally, including to cities adjacent to Macao.

Macao was considered a safe and low-risk city in relation to COVID-19, with no local case reported for more than 260 days, Mr Ho noted. This hard-earned achievement had been dependent on the joint effort of the Government and members of the public, since the initial local alert regarding the disease in January.

The Chief Executive additionally asked the Government-response team to coordinate and prepare well in advance arrangements for supply of COVID-19 vaccine. This included providing members of the public with a choice of several vaccines, and working to minimise their concern regarding such vaccination.

Mr Ho also mentioned effort should be made to bolster the local mechanism for joint prevention and control of the epidemic, especially regarding health quarantine and inspection work at boundary control points. Sterilisation and cleaning measures should also be strictly implemented at checkpoints, in order to prevent the disease being imported to Macao.

Thanks to the care of, and guidance from, the Central Government and the support of mainland provinces, the facilitated individual travel scheme had been resumed for the whole of the mainland from 23 September, Mr Ho noted.

Macao had recently seen a daily average of 300,000 cross-boundary passenger movements, Mr Ho stated. He asked the public for its support and cooperation regarding the Government’s epidemic-prevention and -control work.

During Tuesday’s meeting, topics discussed included: a report on the latest developments in relation to COVID-19, and an interim summary of work; and the planning for region- and risk-specific epidemic-prevention work, in order to prevent the risk of suspension of quarantine-free travel between the mainland and Macao.