The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced in a statement last night that Macau’s 47th COVID-19 patient was discharged yesterday, bringing the number of the city’s hospitalised COVID-19 patients “back to zero again”.
Macau has recorded 48 COVID-19 cases since January 22 last year, 46 of which have been classified as imported, while two cases have been classified as “connected to imported cases”. The 47th COVID-19 patient, a 43-year-old woman who was confirmed as a COVID-19 patient two months ago, was the last discharged patient.
No COVID-19 fatalities have been reported in Macau.
The woman, who was confirmed as a COVID-19 patient on January 22, was among the 109 passengers – all Macau residents – returning to Macau on the previous day on two Air Macau flights from Tokyo. She is a Philippine national holding a Macau ID card.
Last night’s statement said that the 43-year-old woman met the Health Bureau’s criteria for a COVID-19 patient to be discharged after testing negative for the novel coronavirus in two consecutive nucleic acid tests (NATs) via nasopharyngeal swabs which were taken on Sunday and Tuesday, adding that, consequently, she was discharged yesterday.
According to the statement, the woman has now started her 14-day recovery period isolation at the bureau’s Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane after her 61-day hospital treatment.
3 returnees test positive for COVID-19 in antibody tests
Meanwhile, the centre said in another statement last night that three out of 15 Macau residents who returned to Macau on March 7 from Europe and the United States via Taipei tested positive for the novel coronavirus in their antibody tests, also known as serology tests, yesterday.
The statement said that all 15 passengers tested negative for COVID-19 in a nucleic acid test (NAT) upon their arrival at the local airport on March 7, after which they were taken to one of the government’s “quarantine hotels” for their 21-day quarantine and medical observation. The statement said that the trio who tested positive for COVID-19 in their antibody tests have meanwhile been transferred to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre for follow-up medical examinations, before the Health Bureau decides whether to classify them as COVID-19 patients.
According to the centre’s previous announcement, four out of 30 Macau residents who returned to Macau on March 14 from Europe and the United States via Taipei also tested positive for the novel coronavirus in their antibody tests the next day. None of them have so far been classified as COVID-19 patients.
