Macau reported 39 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases yesterday, raising the latest number of cases from 71 to 110 in the ongoing outbreak, which was detected on Saturday.
Two more clusters have been detected, raising the latest number of identified clusters to five.
Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long announced Macau’s latest outbreak tally during yesterday evening’s press conference.
Lo also announced that the 110 cases also include a health worker, the first local case of its kind, who has been infected with COVID-19.
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, Lo said, the current outbreak’s number of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases had risen to 110.
The 110 COVID-19 carriers, aged between eight months and 89, comprise 73 females and 37 males. According to Lo, 32 of the 110 cases have been classified as confirmed COVID-19 cases as they have come down with symptoms, while the other 78 have been classified as asymptomatic cases as they had not developed any symptoms as of yesterday afternoon.
Lo also said that all of the 110 COVID-19 carriers were in a stable condition.
Lo said that his bureau has provisionally concluded that 102 of the 110 cases involve five clusters, while the bureau was still carrying out its epidemiological investigations into the other eight cases. Lo’s remarks meant that two new clusters were added yesterday.
At the time of the press conference, according to Lo, the first cluster consisted of 55 people, involving Yim Lai Building where a number of non-resident workers from Myanmar live, while the second cluster consisted of 38 people, involving Tat Cheong Building which is located opposite Yim Lai Building. The third cluster consisted of four people, involving Tim Fung (Macau) Cleaning Service Company Limited.
Yim Lai and Tat Cheong buildings are located in the San Kio neighbourhood. Tim Fung Cleaning Service is a dry-cleaning plant in an industrial building in Avenida de Venceslau de Morais in Areia Preta district.
According to Lo, the fourth cluster consisted of three people, involving OD Health Club, while the fifth cluster consisted of two people, involving a block of the Macau International Centre residential estate in Zape.
While the Health Bureau has provisionally concluded that the first, second, third and fifth cluster “are connected in a way”, at the time of yesterday evening’s press conference it was still identifying whether the fourth cluster is connected with any of the other clusters.
Lo noted that the 110 COVID-19 carriers in the outbreak work in various occupations, including a health worker who is tasked with collecting swabs for COVID-19 tests at the special emergency ward of the public Conde de S. Januário Hospital Centre, adding that the health worker, whose gender was not revealed, had not come down with any symptoms as of yesterday afternoon.
Lo underlined that the Health Bureau was yet to confirm whether he or she had been infected at the workplace, adding that none of his or her colleagues have so far been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Health Bureau official Leong Iek Hou said that a person of the third cluster often went to Rua da Emenda in San Kio neighbourhood, where a “siu mei” shop connected to the second cluster is located, while another of the third cluster lives near Rua da Emenda. Some staff members of Hotel Fortuna in Zape, which is connected to the first cluster, live at Macau International Centre in Zape, Leong said, adding that a number of people have been infected with COVID-19 after visiting Macau International Centre.
93,369 test negative, but 5 batches of pooled samples preliminarily positive
Meanwhile, according to a Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre statement last night, as of 9 p.m. yesterday 308,273 people had had their swabs collected for COVID-19 tests under the ongoing mandatory citywide nucleic acid testing (NAT) drive, 93,369 of whom had come up with a negative result. However, as of 9 p.m. yesterday five batches of pooled samples (10 samples per pooled sample) had preliminarily tested positive. The preliminarily positive samples were taken at four testing stations, namely Luso-Chinese Vocational and Technical School, Kiang Wu Hospital, the Workers’ Stadium, and the headquarters of the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (known as Kai Fong in Cantonese).
In Macau, a batch of pooled samples normally has 10 swabs taken from testees, also known as “10 mix into 1”. This sampling technique enables laboratories to come up with results in a much shorter time. However, if a batch of pooled samples tests positive, the 10 respective testees will need to have their swabs taken again – in which case their swabs will not be mixed – in order for health officials to identify which of them really tested positive for COVID-19.
New COVID-19 examination and screening post
Meanwhile, Lo announced that the government will start the operation of a testing and quarantine post at the Macau East Asian Games Dome in Cotai that screens potential COVID-19 carriers and close contacts, at 6 a.m. today, replacing the one at the Taipa Ferry Terminal in Pac On.
Lo said that the new post has an area double the size of the post in Pac On, which he said will be conducive to COVID-19 prevention and make it more comfortable for residents to wait for test results and COVID-19 arrangements.
The new post is part of a makeshift hospital, whose operation has not yet been launched. The government has said that the makeshift hospital can start operating anytime if needed.
Meanwhile, the government published an executive order by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng yesterday afternoon according to which all entertainment and recreation venues have been closed since 5 p.m. yesterday. The venues comprise cinemas, theatres, enclosed entertainment parks, amusement arcades, cybercafes, snooker halls, bowling alleys, saunas, massage parlours, beauty parlours, gyms, health clubs, karaoke bars, nightclubs, discotheques, ballrooms, cabarets, barber shops and hair salons, and public swimming pools. The list does not include casinos.
According to the order, dine-in services are also prohibited from 5 p.m. yesterday. Restaurants and other eateries are however allowed to sell takeaways.
Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long addresses yesterday’s press conference about the city’s ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Photo: GCS
