Five more arrivals from Hong Kong have tested positive for COVID-19, Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre has announced.
The centre has classified the five cases as imported and asymptomatic, because of which they have not been added to Macau’s novel coronavirus tally, which therefore remains at 82.
The five patients comprise a 36-year-old local woman, her four-year-old daughter, a 53-year-old local woman, a 46-year-old local woman, and a 36-year-old Filipina working as a domestic helper in Macau.
The Filipina travelled from Hong Kong to Macau with the six-year-old local boy whose asymptomatic COVID-19 case was announced on Wednesday last week.
The boy travelled to Macau with his mother and the Filipina last month. As of last night, the boy’s mother had not tested positive for COVID-19.
According to a statement by the centre last night, the 36-year-old woman received her first and second Sinopharm inactivated jab in Macau in April and May respectively, before receiving a Sinopharm booster jab here in December, while her daughter has not been inoculated against COVID-19.
The woman and her daughter travelled from Hong Kong to Macau on a shuttle bus (aka Golden Bus) via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) yesterday, and tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arrival here, because of which they have been transferred to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane for isolation treatment.
According to a statement by the centre on Thursday, the 53-year-old woman received her first and second Sinopharm jab in Macau in June and July respectively. She travelled to Macau on a Golden Bus on Thursday, and tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arrival here, because of which she was transferred to the Public Health Clinical Centre for isolation treatment.
According to a statement by the centre on Friday, the 46-year-old woman received her first and second Sinopharm jab in Macau in June and July respectively, before receiving a dose of the Sinovac inactivated vaccine as her booster jab in Hong Kong last month.
The woman travelled to Macau on a Golden Bus on Friday, and tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arrival here, because of which she was transferred to the Public Health Clinical Centre for isolation.
According to the same statement on Friday, the 36-year-old Filipina received her first and second Sinovac jab in Hong Kong in July and August respectively. She travelled from Hong Kong to Macau by car on the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge (HZMB) on February 19. She tested negative for the novel coronavirus upon arrival here, after which she was transferred to Pousada Marina Infante – one of the government’s “quarantine hotels” – for medical observation.
Negative in 9 follow-up tests before positive
The Filipina stayed in the same guestroom as the boy during their hotel quarantine. She continued to show negative results for COVID-19 in eight follow-up tests, on February 20, 21, 22, 23 and 26, as well as Sunday, Monday and Tuesday last week, according to the statement.
After the boy was confirmed as an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient on Tuesday last week, the Filipina was transferred from the hotel to the Public Health Clinical Centre the next day for quarantine, where she still tested negative for COVID-19 in a follow-up test. However, according to the statement, she tested positive for the novel coronavirus in a follow-up test on Friday, because of which she is having to stay there for isolation.
While foreign nationals without a Macau ID card have, in general, been barred from entering Macau since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, certain groups of them, such as non-resident workers employed in Macau, are currently allowed to return to Macau from the mainland or Hong Kong, after making an application to the Macau Health Bureau (SSM) for exemption from the Macau government’s entry ban.
Returnee from US has COVID-19
Meanwhile, a 77-year-old local man who returned to Macau from the United States last Monday has tested positive for COVID-19, the centre has announced.
The case has also been classified as imported and asymptomatic, because of which it has not been added to Macau’s COVID-19 tally.
According to a statement by the centre on Friday, the man received his first and second BioNTech mRNA jab in Macau in August and September respectively.
The man tested negative for COVID-19 in a nucleic acid test (NAT) in the US on February 25. He flew to Singapore the next day and caught a connecting flight to Macau on Monday last week, the statement said.
The man tested negative for the novel coronavirus upon arrival at the local airport, after which he was transferred to Treasure Hotel – one of the government’s “quarantine hotels” – for medical observation.
The man continued to show negative results for COVID-19 in two follow-up tests, on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. However, according to the statement, he tested positive for the novel coronavirus in a follow-up test on Thursday, because of which he was transferred to the Public Health Clinical Centre for isolation.
In addition to the total of 82 confirmed COVID-19 cases, the centre pointed out yesterday that Macau has reported a total of 43 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
Classes resume for students living in Tanzhou
Meanwhile, in-class teaching resumes today for cross-border students enrolled in local schools or higher education institutions who live in Zhongshan city’s Tanzhou town, the Macau Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) announced in a statement on Saturday.
Classes in Macau for the students living in Tanzhou were suspended on Tuesday last week after a female mainlander living in Tanzhou (坦洲) was confirmed as an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient on the previous day.
The Tanzhou woman, a mainlander holding a travel permit for visiting relatives in Macau, engaged in Macau-Zhuhai cross-border parallel-trading (colloquially known as “soi hak” in Cantonese) activities by making use of her travel permit, because of which the Macau Public Security Police (PSP) had decided to bar the woman from entering Macau for one year.
In the wake of the Tanzhou woman’s COVID-19 positive case, the Macau government had tested 7,103 people living or working near the Barrier Gate Plaza for COVID-19, and all of them had come up with a negative result.
In addition, the Macau government had also required two other groups of people to undergo three COVID-19 tests in three days, namely 1) those who crossed the Barrier Gate checkpoint more than four times on any one day in the period between February 25 and 27; and 2) those who had visited the same places as the Tanzhou woman at around the same time. The mandatory COVID-19 testing drive for the two groups ended on Friday. The Macau government announced on Saturday that 28,861 people had been tested, and all of them had come up with a negative result.
Saturday’s DSEDJ statement said that the government had decided to resume in-class teaching for cross-border students living in Tanzhou after considering that “Tanzhou’s COVID-19 situation has stabilised” and that all those tested under the Macau government’s COVID-19 testing drives induced by the Tanzhou woman’s case had come up with a negative result.
Children accompanied by their parents queue to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the Macau Forum inoculation facility in Zape on Saturday, when the government said that the city’s COVID-19 vaccination rate amongst those aged between 3 and 11 had increased to around 20 percent. – Photo courtesy of TDM
