Macau's Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced at a special press conference tonight that around 50,000 people from specific neighbourhoods are required to undergo nucleic acid tests (NATs) tomorrow.
The COVID-19 tests will be held between 9 a.m. and midnight tomorrow.
Officials said the testing drive's target group consists of people from red code zones related to the city's 72nd to 75th COVID-19 cases. The aim of the one-day mandatory tests is to discover hidden cases while COVID-19 incubation period is still on, the officials said, and also to prepare the conditions for Macau to resume normal life if all the test results are negative. The areas' residents will be notified by the Health Bureau (SSM) tonight, based on their registered addresses as they signed up for the city's COVID-19 control and prevention Health Code.
The areas concerned comprise the neighbourhoods surrounding San Mei On Building, Victoria Hotel and Grand Emperor Hotel, according to the press conference.
The officials urged people who don't live in the respective areas but stayed there for prolonged periods of time between September 26 and October 4, as well as those who took bus rides on public bus route 1, 7, 8, 10, 12, 18, 19, 21A, 23, 25, 25B, 51A and AP1 during that timespan, to volunteer to be tested as well tomorrow.
Registration for tomorrow's testing at one special-care and 12 regular NAT stations began at 10 p.m. today.
Macau has so far carried out three mandatory citywide NAT rounds, which all produced only negative results.
Tomorrow's tests are the city's first neighbourhood-specific NAT drive.
Macau's COVID-19 tally stands at 77, without any fatalities.
Macau has a population of about 680,000.
