At present, the quarantine period for returning to Macau from Hong Kong, Taiwan or foreign countries is seven days of hotel quarantine and three days of self-health management – in line with the policy of mainland China.

But Coutinho pointed out at Thursday’s AL meeting that the Macau government has spent MOP$160 billion (US$US$19.8 billion) in three years to control the pandemic.

“The government has spent millions and millions more, a huge amount of money in the budget,” he said.

Coutinho added that the government should do more to help Macau return to pre-pandemic normal.

“For example, the mandatory quarantine in hotels should be changed to home quarantine, and if that is not possible, the number of days of quarantine should be reduced to three days, as in other countries or regions, so that Macau can get back on track.”

This is the first time a Macau legislator has asked the government to reduce the number of days of isolation in the AL.

The ongoing impact of the epidemic has severely impacted Macau’s economic development, with the city’s dominant casino industry generating only MOP$35.71 billion (US$4.42 billion) in gross gaming revenue from January to October, the lowest amount since the outbreak.

Economic issues have become a hot topic in the community, and the Macau government has recently announced its economic forecast for next year. The government estimated last week that GGR in 2023 would reach MOP$130 billion (US$16.1 billion), the exact same amount it had forecast for the previous two years.

Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, pointed out in Thursday’s AL meeting that, “The government used the estimate of MOP$130 billion in gross gaming revenue as the main basis of revenue projections for the preparation of next year’s budget.”

At the same time, he added, “It is expected that the budget for 2023 will still be in deficit and an excess reserve of MOP$35.62 billion (US$4.41 billion) will need to be added to the fiscal reserves.”

On 1 November, Beijing reopened eVisas to Macau for most of mainland China. However, the pandemic is becoming increasingly challenging across the mainland, bringing even more uncertainty to the resumption of economic activities in Macau. On Wednesday, there were 8,800 confirmed cases nationwide including 3,000 cases in Guangdong Province.

By Pierce Chan