Addressing yesterday’s regular press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus situation, Leong Iek Hou, who heads the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Health Bureau (SSM), said that only after Macau’s COVID-19 vaccination rate amongst senior citizens and children has reached at least 90 percent could the Macau government consider allowing foreign nationals without a local ID card who have been hired as domestic helpers to enter Macau again.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign nationals without a Macau ID card have, in general, been barred from entering Macau since March 2020, regardless of whether they are willing to undergo hotel quarantine. Exceptions to the entry ban have been granted for just a few special cases only.
During yesterday’s press conference, a reporter asked about the minimum COVID-19 vaccination rate that Macau would be required to reach for the local government to allow foreign domestic helpers to enter Macau again.
Leong noted that one of the major duties of foreign domestic helpers hired by families in Macau is to look after senior citizens and children. However, Leong said, Macau’s COVID-19 vaccination rate amongst senior citizens and children is still relatively low.
Leong noted that most foreign domestic helpers hired by families in Macau come from countries that are seriously affected by COVID-19, such as the Philippines and Vietnam. Consequently, Leong said, the Macau government could only allow foreign domestic helpers to enter Macau again after the city’s COVID-19 inoculation rates amongst seniors and children have reached a “sufficiently high” level.
Leong underlined that while Macau’s COVID-19 vaccination rate among the population in general, which stood at 683,200 at the end of last year, is high, exceeding 85 percent, the respective jab rates amongst senior citizens and children are still not high enough.
Macau’s COVID-19 vaccination rate among the population reached 86.05 percent at 4 p.m. yesterday, according to the latest official statistics.
The Macau government reported Macau’s latest COVID-19 vaccination rates amongst all those aged 60 or over and those aged between 3 and 11 on Tuesday last week, when they reached around 68 percent and 52.2 percent respectively.
“Only after the jab rates among these two groups of people have increased to a higher level, could we be reassured that seniors and children in Macau would not be infected with COVID-19 or suffer a serious condition [from the novel coronavirus disease] in case the foreign domestic helpers who have come to Macau to look after them are carrying the virus,” Leong said.
The reporter went on to ask what is the exact number of the minimum COVID-19 jab rates amongst seniors and children that Macau would need for foreign domestic helpers to be allowed to come here.
Leong replied that “there are no standards across the world about the exact number of the vaccination rate that can be considered high enough, but we certainly know that the higher the vaccination rate, the higher the number of people can be protected.
“The vaccination rate needs to reach at least 90 percent to be considered high,” Leong said.
In addition, Leong said, the local government would also need to assess the possibility of allowing foreign domestic helpers to enter Macau again by taking into account whether the number of quarantine hotel guestrooms would be sufficient, and whether its medical facilities can tackle a situation in case many of the foreign domestic helpers who come to Macau test positive for COVID-19.
No local case for 180 days
Meanwhile, Leong also noted yesterday that Macau has not reported a new local COVID-19 case for 180 consecutive days after the detection of 12 cases “connected to an imported case” between late September and early October last year. The 12 cases involved a cluster of quarantine hotel security staff and a cluster of renovation workers.
NAT validity for arrivals from Zhuhai
Meanwhile, Leong also reaffirmed that the validity of the negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test (NAT) result for those entering Macau from Zhuhai could only be raised back to 48 hours from the current 24 hours if the neighbouring city has zero new local COVID-19 cases for at least seven days.
The validity of the negative NAT result for those entering Macau from Zhuhai was shortened to just 24 hours from 48 hours three weeks ago.
Leong noted that Zhuhai latest local COVID-19 case was reported on Sunday. Leong said that once the neighbouring city has zero new local COVID-19 cases for seven days, the Macau government would assess with its Zhuhai counterpart whether the NAT validity for those entering Macau from Zhuhai could be raised back to 48 hours.
Leong also said that the Macau government would need to “dynamically” assess the overall latest COVID-19 developments in the mainland as a whole before deciding whether the NAT validity for those entering Macau from Zhuhai could be further raised back to seven days, rather than only considering Zhuhai’s latest COVID-19 developments.
More NAT institutions
Meanwhile, Leong also underlined that the Health Bureau has been constantly discussing a possible further reduction in the fee of a regular COVID-19 nucleic acid test with the city’s various testing institutions.
Macau’s regular NAT programme is run by several private testing institutions. Each test currently costs 70 patacas.
According to Leong, the testing institutions have told the bureau that the NAT fee cannot be further reduced due to certain factors such as the operation cost.
However, Leong revealed that the Health Bureau is assessing applications from a number of new testing institutions for their possible provision of regular nucleic acid testing services. Leong said her bureau expects a higher number of NAT service providers to be able to further raise Macau’s COVID-19 testing capacity, and stronger competition in the testing service to be able to further reduce the NAT fee.
While the NAT fee in Macau is higher than in the mainland, it is significantly lower than in Hong Kong where each test costs up to 240 patacas.
Meanwhile, Leong also said that the Health Bureau has not prescribed asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in Macau any antiviral medicines, but some of them have been given traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs).
Leong also said that the Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) has ordered the respective airlines to submit a report within two weeks about two cases in which staff members still allowed two local residents, who returned to Macau from Cambodia and Singapore on Saturday last week, to board their respective flights despite their failure to present a COVID-19 vaccination certificate or an NAT certificate in compliance with the Macau government’s requirements.
3 returnees from overseas have asymptomatic COVID-19, raising such cases to 73
Meanwhile, three local residents who returned to Macau from Dubai, the Netherlands and Thailand on Wednesday have tested positive for COVID-19, Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced yesterday.
The centre has classified the three cases as imported and asymptomatic, because of which they have not been added to Macau’s novel coronavirus tally, which therefore remains at 82.
However, the three cases have raised Macau’s asymptomatic COVID-19 tally to 73.
According to a statement by the centre, the first patient is a 33-year-old man who has received three mRNA jabs. He flew from Dubai to Singapore on Tuesday, and caught a connecting flight to Macau the next day.
The second patient is a 32-year-old man who has received two mRNA jabs. He flew from Bangkok to Singapore on Tuesday, and caught a connecting flight to Macau the next day.
The third patient is a 39-year-old woman who has received three mRNA jabs. She flew from the Netherlands to Singapore on Tuesday, and caught a connecting flight to Macau the next day.
All of them tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arrival at the local airport on Wednesday, and have been transferred to the Health Bureau’s Public Health Clinical Centre for isolation.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U (right) is briefed by health officials yesterday about the possible operation of an indoor makeshift hospital in the Macau East Asian Games Dome in Cotai. A total of 50 beds have now been set up there for a drill to be carried out to simulate the activation of the hospital’s operation in case of a massive COVID-19 outbreak. Photo: GCS
