A total of 144 people who had arrived in Macau from Nanjing Lukou International Airport since July 14 are now in quarantine at local hotels designated by government, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre said in a statement yesterday afternoon.
The centre had announced at a press conference on Monday evening that all those in Macau who had been at Nanjing airport on July 14 or after must undergo quarantine at a designated hotel in Macau for up to 14 days after they had left that airport.
They were required to report to the Taipa Ferry Terminal in Pac On along with their air ticket information by 11 p.m. on Monday for transfer to one of the so-called “quarantine hotels”.
The Macau government’s sudden measure came as Nanjing has been reporting over 100 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases since last week – some of them connected to its airport.
Yesterday’s statement said that 10 of the 144 people in quarantine in Macau because they had been at Nanjing airport had already been in quarantine before the urgent measure was announced on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, the centre also said that 1,430 people had supplied it with information about their stay in, or visit to Zhuhai where they might have crossed paths with a confirmed asymptomatic COVID-19 carrier between July 19 and July 21.
The centre said that those people would all be tested three times for the novel coronavirus over the next seven days.
The centre urged anyone believing they had crossed paths with the COVID-19 carrier in Zhuhai to contact the Health Bureau immediately by calling 2870 0800, sending an email to pere@ssm.gov.mo.ou or by ticking “Zhuhai” on the “Travel History” section of their Macau Health Code.
The asymptomatic COVID-19 carrier arrived in Zhuhai on Flight CZ5846 from Nanjing on July 19. The person stayed at Hotel Greenery in Zhuhai and had dinner at Laochanfang Restaurant in Jida district. On July 20, the person had a meeting with a company at the Everbright International Trade Centre and had dinner at Guizhouwai Restaurant. On July 21, the person visited the trade centre again. Later that day the person tested positive for COVID-19 and was consequently quarantined.
Delta variant identified in Nanjing’s COVID-19 clusters
Meanwhile, the virus strain behind the latest clusters of COVID-19 cases in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, has been identified as the highly infectious Delta variant, local authorities said yesterday.
The recent spike in infections in the city can be attributed to the special location of the outbreak and the highly contagious nature of the strain, said Ding Jie, vice director of the city’s centre for disease control and prevention, at a press conference.
Nanjing, a mega-city with a population of more than 9.3 million, has seen daily increases of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases since a few airport workers tested positive for the novel coronavirus last week.
It has launched a second round of all-inclusive nucleic acid testing and urged residents not to leave the city unless necessary.
Staff set up temporary laboratories for nucleic acid testing (NAT) at a stadium in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, yesterday. Nanjing started building six “Falcon” testing labs on Sunday. Three of the labs went into operation yesterday morning, while the others were completed last night. When all six labs are in use, 180,000 sample tubes can be tested daily, and if mixed sample tests are carried out, 1.8 million people can be screened every day. – Xinhua
