Macau reported 146 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in a day, on Tuesday, raising the latest tally of its current outbreak to 1,087, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced yesterday.
It is the first time that the current outbreak’s tally surpassed the 1,000-case threshold.
The 146-case rise was the highest day-on-day increase since the start of the current outbreak, which was detected on June 18. It is also the first time that the current outbreak’s number of daily new cases has hit three-digits.
The government yesterday also urged employers to arrange for their domestic helpers to live in after considering that many live-out domestic helpers in Macau live in flats with non-resident security or cleaning staff, groups of workers who, the Health Bureau (SSM) has concluded, have had a higher probability of having been infected with COVID-19.
According to a statement by the centre yesterday afternoon, the 146 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were detected between 00:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, raising the outbreak tally from 941 as of Monday night to 1,087 as of Tuesday night.
The statement also said that while 39 of the 146 new local cases reported on Tuesday were detected among COVID-19 carriers subject to control measures such as lockdowns and quarantine, the other 107 cases were detected in the community, comprising 48 cases detected by the current outbreak’s fourth round of mandatory citywide nucleic acid tests (NATs) – which was carried out from Monday to Tuesday – and 59 cases detected among yellow Macau Health Code holders as well as security, cleaning and building management staff.
During yesterday evening’s daily press conference about the viral menace, Leong Iek Hou, who heads the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Health Bureau (SSM), said that the government started yesterday to announce the composition of daily new cases detected in the community.
Leong also said that 427 of the latest tally of 1,087 have been classified as confirmed COVID-19 cases as they had come down with symptoms, while the other 660 cases have been classified as asymptomatic cases as they had not developed any symptoms.
The current outbreak’s latest tally of 1,087 includes Macau’s first two COVID-19 deaths, which were reported on Sunday. Both were chronically ill female senior citizens, aged 100 and 94 respectively, who lived in the same nursing home. The centenarian was Macau’s oldest COVID-19 patient.
Currently the youngest COVID-19 patient is a three-month-old baby, while the oldest patients are in their nineties.
When asked by reporters during yesterday evening’s press conference, Leong said that 81 preliminary positive cases had been reported yesterday shortly before the press conference.
94 batches of pooled samples positive in 4th round of mass testing
Meanwhile, according to a Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre statement yesterday, a total of 94 batches of pooled samples (10 samples per pooled sample) had tested positive for COVID-19 in the government’s fourth mandatory citywide NAT drive, which tested a total of 637,349 people from Monday to Tuesday.
Furthermore, according to a statement by the centre last night, as of 9 p.m. yesterday, 349,842 people had had their swabs taken for COVID-19 tests under the ongoing mandatory citywide NAT drive, 153,996 of whom had come up with a negative result. However, as of 9 p.m. yesterday 16 batches of pooled samples had tested positive.
The ongoing round of mass nucleic acid tests is the current COVID-19 outbreak’s fifth one, which started at 9 a.m. yesterday and will end at 6 p.m. today.
The government has launched three rounds of citywide nucleic acid tests for this week, i.e., the current outbreak’s fourth, fifth and sixth rounds. The sixth round will be carried out from tomorrow to Saturday. Each of the three rounds lasts 33 hours. Those aged three or below are exempted from the three rounds of mass testing.
Serious COVID-19 situation among security, cleaning & building management staff
During yesterday’s press conference, Leong underlined Macau’s serious situation of COVID-19 infection among security, cleaning and building management staff, adding that many live-out domestic helpers in Macau live in flats with security or cleaning staff.
Leong said that in case a domestic helper is infected with COVID-19, their employer is very likely to be also infected. As some domestic helpers also look after their respective employers’ children or elderly family members, Leong said, domestic helpers’ infection with COVID-19 can result in serious consequences.
Therefore, Leong said, the government is now urging employers to arrange for their domestic helpers to live in, or alternatively to provide them with accommodation for them to stay alone, with the aim of minimising the risk of them becoming infected with COVID-19.
Around 500 in locked-down Grand Lisboa
Meanwhile, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) official Liz Lam Tong Hou said during yesterday’s press conference that around 500 people are staying at Hotel Grand Lisboa, which has been locked down since Tuesday evening. The Health Bureau announced on Tuesday that 13 staff members from Grand Lisboa had been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection.
Leong said yesterday that after an assessment, the Health Bureau had concluded that gamblers at Grand Lisboa’s casino had had a low risk of having been infected with COVID-19 because of which the government allowed them to leave before locking down the casino-hotel.
However, Leong said, the Health Bureau has concluded that those staying in guestrooms of Grand Lisboa had had a relatively higher risk of having been infected with COVID-19 because they had often contacted hotel staff, because of which the government has decided that the room guests also need to be subject to the lockdown, i.e., they need to continue to stay in the hotel before the lockdown is lifted.
Meanwhile, senior Health Bureau official Lei Wai Seng said that the current outbreak’s latest tally includes five pregnant women, seven children aged below one, and 18 children aged between two and three.
Currently, asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers or patients with mild symptoms will be transferred to isolation hotels, while those requiring treatment will be transferred to the Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane.
Lei said yesterday that around 90 percent of the current outbreak’s COVID-19 carriers or patients are staying in the city’s two COVID-19 isolation hotels – Sheraton and England Marina Club.
Senior Health Bureau (SSM) official Leong Iek Hou (centre) speaks during yesterday’s press conference about the city’s current COVID-19 outbreak, as senior SSM official Lei Wai Seng (left) and Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) official Liz Lam Tong Hou look on. Photo: Tony Wong
