The Macau government said yesterday that the validity of the negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test (NAT) result for those entering Macau from Guangdong will remain unchanged at 24 hours in the wake of the latest COVID-19 developments in the provincial capital of Guangzhou which is possibly being hit by community transmissions.
A statement by Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre yesterday said that according to announcements by Guangzhou’s health authorities, the provincial capital reported at least 11 local COVID-19 positive cases on Saturday, some of which had meanwhile been confirmed as carrying the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant.
According to announcements by Guangzhou’s health authorities, yesterday’s statement by the centre said, COVID-19 community transmissions might have started in certain neighbourhoods in Guangzhou, and the novel coronavirus might have spread to other areas in the city. The statement quoted Guangzhou’s health authorities as saying that the city is now facing a landscape of fighting COVID-19 that is more critical than when the city was hit by transmissions of the Delta variant in May and June last year.
According to Guangzhou health officials, as of yesterday afternoon the city had reported 23 local COVID-19 positive cases during the current Omicron wave, which started on Friday.
According to virologists and epidemiologists across the world, the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant is even more contagious than the BA.1 sub-variant. Hong Kong and Shanghai have been hard hit by transmissions of the Omicron BA.2 variant during their current COVID-19 waves.
The validity of the negative NAT result for those entering Macau from Zhuhai was shortened to just 24 hours from 48 hours around the middle of last month, after the detection of new local COVID-19 cases in the neighbouring city at that time.
Following the service suspension in late February, the ferry services between Macau and Shenzhen resumed on Thursday, because of which currently those from Guangdong can enter Macau via the Macau-Zhuhai land border checkpoints or via the Macau-Shenzhen ferry services.
Yesterday’s statement said that because of Guangzhou’s latest COVID-19 developments, the Macau government has decided not to relax the current 24-hour NAT validity for those entering Macau from Guangdong.
The statement noted that non-Macau residents failing to present a valid NAT certificate will be refused entry, while Macau residents failing to display such a certificate must immediately undergo a COVID-19 nucleic acid test.
The statement also noted that the validity of the negative NAT result for those leaving Macau will remain unchanged at seven days.
The statement again urged residents to adhere to the practice of wearing a facemask and complying with other personal hygiene measures. Those commuting between Macau and Zhuhai should always only travel between their homes, workplaces, and NAT stations, without visiting other unnecessary venues, and they should also avoid visiting any venues which many people are using, the statement said.
Mobile jab station in Iao Hon
Meanwhile, a mobile COVID-19 vaccination station is still providing walk-in inoculation services in Iao Hon Park today.
The COVID-19 vaccination vehicle started its services early this month, when it was parked outside a social rental housing building in Ilha Verde during a three-day period from April 2 to 4.
The government has said that the mobile COVID-19 vaccination station parked in Iao Hon Park aims to make it more convenient for those with reduced mobility, bedridden individuals and senior citizens living in the neighbourhood to get inoculated. Staff members and volunteers of the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (commonly known as Kai Fong) is helping transport these groups of individuals from their respective residential facilities to the mobile vaccination station, which opens from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. during the two-day period from yesterday to today.
Kids’ jab rate
Meanwhile, the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) said in a statement on Friday that over 36,600 children aged between 3 and 11 had been inoculated against COVID-19, representing a vaccination rate of over 56 percent. Over 33,000 schoolchildren aged between 3 and 11 have been vaccinated since late February when the government intensified its campaign to boost COVID-19 vaccinations for them.
2 returnees from HK & Thailand have asymptomatic COVID-19, raising such cases to 75
Two local residents who returned to Macau from Hong Kong and Thailand have tested positive for COVID-19, Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre has announced.
The centre has classified the two 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 two cases have raised Macau’s asymptomatic COVID-19 tally to 75.
The first case was announced on Friday, while the other case was announced yesterday.
According to a statement by the centre on Friday, the first patient is a 24-year-old woman who returned to Macau from Hong Kong on Thursday. She has received two mRNA jabs. She tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arrival in Macau.
According to a statement by the centre yesterday, the second patient is a 30-year-old man who returned to Macau from Thailand on Saturday. The man, who has received two mRNA jabs, flew from Bangkok to Singapore on Friday, and caught a connecting flight to Macau the next day. He tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arrival at the local airport.
Both have been transferred to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Public Health Clinical Centre for isolation.
A health worker helps a senior citizen in a wheelchair enter a mobile COVID-19 vaccination station at Iao Hon Park yesterday. – Photo courtesy of TDM
