A male non-resident worker from the mainland was arrested last Wednesday for hiding information about other possible COVID-19 patients in October, thereby breaching the local government’s pandemic prevention measures, Judiciary Police (PJ) Ho Chan Nam said during yesterday’s press briefing at the Public Security Police (PSP) pressroom.
The 46-year-old suspect surnamed Yang told the police that he works as a renovation worker. He was Macau’s 72nd COVID-19 patient.
According to Ho, the Judiciary Police assisted the Health Bureau (SSM) last month in following up on the epidemiological tracking of COVID-19 cases. PJ officers discovered that Yang did not inform the bureau about the whereabouts of a friend and the 75th COVID-19 case patient, a Vietnamese illegal worker. Yang was in quarantine until last Wednesday and was taken by the Judiciary Police to a police station to follow up on the investigation. Under questioning, Yang told the police that he was worried about disclosing the whereabouts of a Vietnamese illegal worker, who worked with him on a renovation project, and his friend, so he decided not to reveal the duo’s whereabouts to the bureau.
Ho said that Yang breached the Law on the Prevention, Control and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, violated the local government’s pandemic prevention measures, and if convicted he faces up to six months behind bars or a fine. Ho added that Yang’s friend tested negative in a nucleic acid test (NAT) so that quarantine was not required.
Yang was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) last Wednesday, facing charges for violating the government’s health prevention measures, according to Ho.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam looks on during yesterday’s press briefing at the Public Security Police (PSP) pressroom in Zape. Photo: Camy Tam
