MACAO, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Travelers who take flights to China's Macao Special Administrative Region from abroad will need to have negative nucleic acid reports valid within three days before departing, starting on Jan. 13, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center of Macao said.

Previously, these travelers were required to have negative nucleic acid reports valid within seven days of sampling before departing.

For travelers taking transit flights to Macao, their nucleic acid reports should be valid within three days of their first departure time, the center said late Wednesday.

The new measure was in response to the severe COVID-19 situation abroad, according to the center.

Macao has also tightened quarantine policies for those who have recent travel history to countries and regions outside the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.