Macau's COVID-19 tally rose by three cases to 74 today, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced tonight.
According to a statement by the centre, the 73rd novel coronavirus patient is a 52-year-old non-resident renovation worker from the mainland. He's a colleague of the 72nd patient, whose COVID-19 infection was confirmed this morning.
The latest COVID-19 patients lives in Son Lei Building in the peninsula's northern Iao Hon district.
He tested negative for the virus on September 26 and 30, but today's nucleic acid test (NAT) was positive. He was vaccinated against COVID-19 with Sinopharm in Macau on June 3 and August 3. According to the statement, the source of his infection was still under investigation tonight.
The patient, who is asymptomatic, is undergoing isolation treatment at the Public Health Clinical Centre, the statement said.
According to a follow-up statement by the centre, the 74th patient is a 40-year-old Vietnamese renovation worker who has been classified by the centre as a "close contact" of the 73rd patient.
The Vietnamese tested negative for the virus on September 25 and positive today. He was inoculated against the novel coronavirus with Sinopharm on September 15. The source of his infection is under investigation.
The statement pointed out that the Vietnamese worked on the same renovation projects as the 72nd and 73rd patients. The Vietnamese non-resident worker, who is asymptomatic, is undergoing isolation treatment at the Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane.
Macau recorded its first COVID-19 case on January 22 last year. No fatalities have been reported.
Due to the novel coronavirus cases confirmed today, the local government has suspended in-class teaching, which was originally slated to recommence today, while the Zhuhai government has suspended a plan to grant quarantine-free entry for arrivals from Macau who have been vaccinated at least once against COVID-19 and been tested for the disease 48 hours. The quarantine-free arrangement was originally scheduled to start today.
Meanwhile, the government has offered cross-border students from the mainland free accommodation in Macau.
