The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced yesterday that a local woman who returned to Macau from the United States on Saturday has tested positive for COVID-19.
The centre has classified the case as imported and asymptomatic, because of which it has not been added to Macau’s novel coronavirus tally, which therefore remains at 79.
The centre identified the female patient as a 55-year-old who received her first and second BioNTech mRNA jab in Macau in June and July respectively, before receiving a Pfizer BioNTech mRNA vaccine dose as her booster jab in the United States last month.
According to a statement by the centre, the woman tested negative for COVID-19 in three nucleic acid tests (NATs) in California, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week. She flew to Singapore on Thursday and caught a connecting flight from Singapore to Macau on Saturday. She underwent a nucleic acid test upon arrival in Macau and a follow-up test yesterday, and both “weakly” tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the statement said.
The woman has been transferred to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane.
Woman back from Portugal also has COVID-19
Meanwhile, another 55-year-old local woman, who returned to Macau from Portugal on Wednesday last week, also tested positive for COVID-19.
The case has also been classified as imported and asymptomatic.
According to a statement by the centre on Wednesday last week, the woman received her first and second Sinopharm inactivated jab in Macau in February and March last year respectively, before receiving a Sinopharm booster jab in December.
According to the statement, the woman tested negative for COVID-19 in a nucleic acid test in Portugal on Sunday last week, before flying to Germany the next day. She flew to Singapore from Germany on Tuesday last week and caught a connecting flight from Singapore to Macau the next day where she “weakly” tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arrival.
The woman had been transferred to the Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane.
2 more Omicron cases
The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre held its regular press conference on Friday, during which Tai Wa Hou, a clinical director of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, announced that the 55-year-old woman who returned to Macau from Portugal on Wednesday last week has been diagnosed with carrying the Omicron variant.
Tai also announced that the 19-year-old local woman who returned to Macau from Switzerland on January 29 and whose asymptomatic case was announced on Sunday last week has also been diagnosed with carrying Omicron.
3/4 of population inoculated
Macau’s COVID-19 vaccination rate reached 74.6 percent yesterday – i.e., nearly three quarters of the population had received at least one jab, according to the website of the Health Bureau’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.
The official COVID-19 vaccination rate of 74.6 percent as of yesterday was calculated based on Macau’s population of 683,100 at the end of 2020.
According to the latest available demographics, Macau’s population stood at 682,300 at the end of September.
During Friday’s press conference, Tai underlined that while Macau’s COVID-19 vaccination rate amongst those aged between 20 and 59 currently exceeds 90 percent, the jab rates amongst children and senior citizens are still low. As of 4 p.m. on Friday, according to Tai, the vaccination rates were only five percent amongst those aged from 3 to 11; and 69.4 percent amongst those aged between 12 and 19.
As of 4 p.m. on Friday the COVID-19 vaccination rate amongst senior citizens stood at 63.4 percent amongst those aged between 60 and 69; 44.3 percent amongst those aged from 70 to 79; and 17 percent amongst those aged 80 or over, according to Tai.
Tai also said that the latest findings of research studies worldwide have indicated that children infected with the Omicron variant are also likely to suffer serious conditions or complications, urging unjabbed children and senior citizens to get inoculated against COVID-19 as soon as possible. Tai said that while Macau is currently not hit by local COVID-19 cases, various countries in the world are being hard hit by “explosive” growth in COVID-19 cases.
