The results of all the 716,251 people tested in Macau since Tuesday proved negative, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced early today.
According to a statement by the centre at about 2 a.m. today, 614,465 people took part in the government-ordered mass testing drive between Wednesday and yesterday. Moreover, another 101,786 people were tested outside the government's citywide testing programme between August 3 and yesterday. Consequently, a total of 716,251 were tested for the novel coronavirus during the five days.
The centre said that all the results were confirmed at 2 a.m. today, and "all of them were negative".
However, the centre did not say how many people failed to be tested during the government-ordered round-the-clock testing programme.
The government had said at the start of the testing drive that the Macau Health Code of those who failed to be tested during the period would turn yellow, which means that its holder is barred from entering many facilities, including restaurants, taking public transport and passing through border checkpoints. A green Health Code ensures free access. A red Health Code indicates COVID-19 infection.
The government ordered "everyone" in Macau to take the test after a local family of four had been diagnosed with the highly infectious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus.
People in Macau were given until yesterday to get tested, with long queues forming at many of the 42 testing centres, on Wednesday in particular. While some people said they queued for more than five hours, others said they needed to wait just a few minutes before they got tested.
Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case on January 22 last year. No fatality caused by the virus has been reported in Macau. Including the Delta variant family cluster, Macau's COVID-19 tally stands at 63. Until the Delta variant family cluster was confirmed on Tuesday, Macau had gone over 400 days without a local COVID-19 case. The Health Bureau has classified all the 63 patients as imported or "connected to imported" cases.
According to the latest available statistics, Macau's population stood at 682,500 at the end of the first quarter of this year.
