Macau announced that it is banning flights from all destinations outside mainland China amid the surge in Omicron cases worldwide.

The ban will come into effect on January 9, 2022 to January 23, 2022.

This comes as its neighbour, Hong Kong, also announced stringent anti-Covid measures including a halt on flights from eight countries where the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has seen a recent surge.

"Macau's Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced plans to temporarily prohibit the operation of passenger services from all destinations outside mainland China to Macau," the announcement said.

"The measure is aimed at preventing the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19," it added.