Some parents said they were calm and believed in the government’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures, while others were nervous and confused after the Health Bureau (SSM) announced yesterday that there was a close contact of a COVID-19 patient working at the Fong Chong (Taipa) Crèche.
Soon after the announcement, a grandmother, surnamed Wu, whose grandson attends the crèche told The Macau Post Daily yesterday outside the crèche that she received a call from the crèche and asked her to pick up her grandson. However, she added, when she arrived, the police told her that she had to wait until she received another phone call. When asked how she was feeling, Wu was quick to add that she felt worried and scared that her grandson might catch the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus.
Meanwhile, a father, surnamed Kou, told The Macau Post Daily that he only knew about the situation through the “mothers group chat” and he did not receive any information from the crèche, the Health Bureau nor the police. He pointed out that he was working when he saw the messages and quickly left work to see what was happening. He underlined that he was upset and worried because he was not given any advice on what to do. He urged the government to have a representative from either the crèche or the bureau update them about the situation.
While other parents were panicking about the situation, Au, an aunt of a child at the crèche, told The Macau Post Daily that she was not too worried and the child’s mother was not too worried either because they both believed that the government would implement the appropriate measures to control the situation.
“The last few times when there were COVID-19 cases in the city, the government was quick to arrange a city-wide mass nucleic acid testing drive. I believe that this time the government will also make the right move to handle the situation,” Au said.
When most of the parents were standing in the street waiting for a call from the school to pick up their children, two mothers arrived to collect their children from the crèche carrying suitcases and bags. They both told The Macau Post Daily that they were notified by the bureau to undergo quarantine with their children. They said that they would be in quarantine until next Tuesday. They also pointed out that the bureau had laid on a bus to take them to where they would be quarantined.
