Government officials stressed yesterday that it is illegal to fire anyone ordered by the government to undergo quarantine.
The officials clarified the issue during yesterday’s regular press conference of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre.
They pointed out that it is illegal for an employee to be fired for complying with the government’s disease prevention measures.
The officials also confirmed that Macau’s latest COVID-19 patient, the 71st, is from Zhongzhan. They said that the mainland authorities had been notified about the case. The man usually works in the security control room of the Treasure Hotel opposite the local airport. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Tuesday and is now undergoing isolation treatment at the Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane.
Zhongshan lies some 60 kilometres north of Macau.
The officials also said that while Taiwan, Hong Kong and some Chinese mainland areas are considered medium-risk COVID-19 area, all foreign countries are regarded as high-risk areas by the local government.
They also said that following the recently confirmed COVID-19 cases involving six security staff members from two adjacent hotels (five from Nepal and the one from Zhongshan) the police would be taking over security work at the city’s medical observation quarantine hotels.
The officials also confirmed that the authorities were working on a plan for local residents returning from high-risk COVID-19 countries to stay at a specially arranged “closed-loop” quarantine facility. They stressed that the details were still being worked out, adding that the returnees’ quarantine arrangements would depend on the level of risk that they could pose.
The officials also said that 132 of the 150 quarantinees who had stayed at the Golden Crown China Hotel – the venue of Macau’s latest COVID-19 cases – have been transferred to the Sheraton for medical observation quarantine, while the remainder have been moved to the Treasure Hotel.
