MACAU ALLEGEDLY EXCLUDED FROM HK HEALTH CODE RECOGNITION

THE Macau Health Code will not be recognized by Hong Kong when they introduce their own system, but the neighboring SAR will recognize the code being used in Guangdong province, several Hong Kong media outlets are reporting.

This comes as the Secretary for Food and Health of Hong Kong, Sophia Chan, said yesterday that Hong Kong will develop a local health code system for people traveling between Hong Kong and Guangdong province, or Kong and Macau.

The secretary disclosed the news in a written reply to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council members. Chan said that Macau, Guangdong and Hong Kong are considering a pilot scheme for the mutual recognition of Covid-19 test results and mutual quarantine exemptions in a bid to relax the restrictions on the cross-border travel between the three places within limits.

When questioned about the news yesterday, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center in Macau reiterated that negotiations about the recognition of Health Codes in Macau, Guangdong and Hong Kong were in progress. The center could not provide further information because the “details have not yet been finalized.”

The center also reminded members of the public to stay vigilant about any unofficial information regarding the matter.

Several Hong Kong media outlets cited sources which said that the Hong Kong Health Code system would be available at the earliest from June 27. Nonetheless, it is unlikely that the long-anticipated intra-gba recognition scheme will include Macau.

The arrangement of excluding Macau in the first phase is due to Macau’s concerns with the unstable Covid-19 conditions on the mainland and in Hong Kong, according to the press.

The local Novel Coronavirus Center declined to authenticate the information. Dr. Alvin Lo Iek Long, the medical director of the public Conde de S Januário Hospital, declined to comment because he believes that what he says will be perceived as “credible information.”