The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced last night that a Hong Kong man who entered Macau last week 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 male patient as a 51-year-old non-resident worker who received his first and second Sinopharm inactivated jab in Macau in March and April last year respectively, before receiving a Sinopharm booster jab in December.
According to a statement by the centre, the man tested negative for the novel coronavirus upon arrival in Macau on Friday, after which he was transferred to Regency Art Hotel – one of the government’s “quarantine hotels” – for medical observation. He tested negative for COVID-19 in a follow-up test again on Sunday. However, according to the statement, he tested positive for the novel coronavirus in a follow-up test yesterday.
Consequently, the statement said, the man was transferred to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane for isolation treatment.
According to the statement, the man, who had still not come down with any COVID-19 symptoms as of last night, told Health Bureau officials that he had never been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease.
Those arriving in Macau from Hong Kong must undergo 14 days of hotel quarantine upon their arrival here.
Currently, those departing for Macau from Hong Kong must present a nucleic acid test (NAT) certificate confirming a negative COVID-19 result valid for 24 hours when boarding a shuttle bus (aka Golden Bus) via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB).
The Macau government tightened the validity of the negative COVID-19 NAT result for arrivals from Hong Kong to 24 hours from 72 hours early this month.
90 Macau students in HK eager to return home in near future
Meanwhile, the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) said in a statement yesterday that as of yesterday morning around 90 Macau residents enrolled in universities in Hong Kong had told the bureau that they want to return to Macau in the near future.
The statement said that the bureau had a meeting with the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the Health Bureau (SSM) and the Transport Bureau (DSAT) on Sunday studying measures to help Macau students stranded in Hong Kong check into quarantine hotel guestrooms.
The DSEDJ statement said that after MGTO officials’ intensive discussions with the city’s quarantine hotels, “a certain number” of quarantine hotel guestrooms meeting the official COVID-19 prevention requirements will become available in the near future for Macau students eager to return home to undergo their medical observation.
The Transport Bureau will roll out special traffic arrangements for Macau students in Hong Kong who want to come home.
People queue to be tested for COVID-19 at a street-side testing booth in Hong Kong on Saturday. Photo: AFP
