Macau's Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre confirmed last night the special administrative region's 48th COVID-19 case.
According to a statement by the centre, the patient is a 30-year-old local Portuguese national who arrived at the local airport with his girlfriend on January 19 from Lisbon via Amsterdam and Tokyo. After arrival both were immediately taken by the Health Bureau (SSM) to Grand Coloane Resort for mandatory 21-day quarantine and medical observation.
On Wednesday, the man tested positive for IgG antibodies and negative for IgM antibodies. The statement pointed out that the results of the patient's three nucleic acid tests (NATs) in the 14 days prior were negative, and he didn't show any symptoms of the disease.
On Thursday, he was transferred to the isolation ward of the public Conde de S. Januario Hospital Centre for medical observation, without showing any symptoms of pneumonia. Yesterday, however, a nasopharyngeal swab confirmed the patient's pneumonia infection caused by COVID-19, the statement said.
According to the statement, the patient is Macau's 48th confirmed novel coronavirus case.
Macau had a population of 682,800 at the end of the third quarter of last year, according to the latest available official statistics. Macau confirmed its first novel coronavirus case on January 22 last year. Just two of the 48 cases were not imported.
Yesterday's statement described the patient's condition as "stable" and classified his infection as "asymptomatic".
The patient's girlfriend has been classified as a close contact. The statement said that she would be transferred from Grand Coloane Resort to the Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane.
Grand Coloane Resort is one of Macau's government-designated quarantine hotels.
First COVID-19 jabs arrive
Meanwhile, the first batch of COVID-19 jabs arrived in Macau this afternoon.
The delivery of Sinopharm inactivated vaccines arrived from the Chinese mainland via the Zhuhai-Macau Cross-Border Industrial Park checkpoint. The government held a ceremony to welcome the jabs.
The Macau government has said that all Macau residents, non-resident workers and non-local students will be offered free COVID-19 jabs. The campaign will be carried out on a voluntary basis.
Macau has one of the world's lowest COVID-19 incidence rates, and observers have described the special administrative region as a novel coronavirus pandemic "oasis."
Foreign nationals have been barred from entering Macau since March last year. Only very few exceptions have been granted. However, foreign nationals who are Macau residents are exempted from the entry ban. Compatriots from the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong are subject to a string of strict entry rules.
