Whether a mainlander working in Macau who hopes to head home for the holidays or a mainlander hoping to travel to Macau for a little R&R, Macau and China want everyone to stay at home. That is the general recommendation ahead of the Chinese New Year (CNY) next month, which has found the governments of both locations urging against making travel plans. The suggestion comes as China has begun to see new spikes in COVID-19 cases and fears are mounting that travel might cause the virus to spread more.

Macau’s Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL, for its Portuguese acronym) said yesterday that businesses should encourage their Chinese mainland employees to stay put and not consider traveling home for the CNY. However, it emphasizes that it’s just a suggestion and not an order, adding that avoiding travel can help keep Macau safe. A spokesperson for Macau’s Health Bureau added, “The call is not compulsory. We hope to reduce the risk of transmission within the community. It doesn’t mean that Macau is in an urgent situation, but we want to prepare early to deploy various works and coordinate with different departments and institutions.”

February 11-17 will mark the CNY Golden Week holiday period and, like last year, won’t bring a lot of relief to Macau. Visitation was down over 78% last year, falling from 1.21 million in 2019 to just 261,100 in 2020. With a major decline expected this year, and citing logistics issues, Macau has already called off its traditional CNY fireworks display and parade.

Macau receives most of its Mainland China visitation from the Guangdong province, which accounted for 60% of the arrivals recorded last year. However, the provincial health office has stated that residents, of which there are around 100 million, shouldn’t consider traveling to Macau, or anywhere else, this year to celebrate the CNY. If last year’s numbers are any indication, Macau can prepare now for a boring Golden Week once again.