The tally of Macau’s current COVID-19 outbreak has reached 1,215, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced yesterday.
The government also reaffirmed yesterday that for the time being it does not plan to impose a citywide lockdown, again urging residents not to believe rumours circulating on the internet.
According to a statement by the centre yesterday morning, 128 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported between 00:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, raising the outbreak tally from 1,087 as of Tuesday night to 1,215 as of Wednesday night.
It was the second consecutive day that the current outbreak’s number of daily new cases reached three digits. Macau reported 146 new local COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.
The statement also said that while 41 of the 128 new local cases reported on Wednesday were detected among COVID-19 carriers subject to management and control measures, namely lockdowns and hotel quarantine, the other 87 cases were detected in the community, comprising 36 cases detected among COVID-19 close contacts, 38 cases detected by mass nucleic acid tests (NATs) and among high-risk key groups of people, and 13 cases detected among other individuals.
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), explained why the bureau has classified some cases detected among COVID-19 close contacts as ones detected in the community. Leong noted that after a COVID-19 positive case has been detected, the bureau will carry out nucleic acid tests on the respective case’s close contacts.
If the COVID-19 close contacts test positive in their nucleic acid tests, Leong said, this means that they had already been carrying the novel coronavirus in the community before being identified as close contacts.
In addition, Leong also said that the 13 COVID-19 cases detected among other individuals on Wednesday included those who were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection by a nucleic acid test after self-testing positive for the novel coronavirus in a rapid antigen test (RAT) and those who sought treatment for respiratory symptoms.
Leong also said that 465 of the latest tally of 1,215 have been classified as confirmed COVID-19 cases as they had come down with symptoms, while the other 750 cases have been classified as asymptomatic cases as they had not developed any symptoms.
The current outbreak’s latest tally of 1,215 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.
626,680 tested, 31 batches of pooled samples positive as of yesterday afternoon
Meanwhile, according to a Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre statement yesterday, as of 3 p.m. yesterday, 626,680 had had their swabs taken for COVID-19 tests under the government’s fifth mandatory citywide NAT drive, which ended at 6 p.m. yesterday, 485,355 had come up with a negative result, while 31 batches of pooled samples (10 samples per pooled sample) had tested positive for COVID-19 as of 3 p.m. yesterday. No updates about the latest results of the fifth round of mass testing were announced last night.
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 today to tomorrow. Each of the three rounds lasts 33 hours.
Warning against rumour-mongers
A statement by the Civil Protection Operations Centre yesterday afternoon said that the government has been aware of rumours circulating on the internet, claiming that it would impose a citywide lockdown. The statement clarified that for the time being the government does not have any plan to impose a citywide lockdown or other similar measures, urging residents not to mistakenly believe false hearsay.
The statement reaffirmed that the top priority of the local government is always to ensure the provision of daily necessities for residents.
During yesterday evening’s press conference, senior Unitary Police Service (SPU) officer Cheong Kin Ian insisted that the government does not plan to impose a citywide lockdown.
Cheong also said that the government has been aware of false rumours circulating on the internet that the government would roll out restrictions divided by zones across the city in case the current outbreak’s tally exceeds a certain number, adding the claims are “incorrect”.
Cheong also noted that the local government activated a state of immediate prevention after the start of the current COVID-19 outbreak, which was detected on June 18. Cheong warned and pointed out that those who create or spread rumours that cause panic when Macau is in a state of immediate prevention will violate the civil protection law. Offenders face a prison term of up to three years.
However, Cheong was quick to add that as of yesterday afternoon nobody had been questioned by the police for having allegedly created or spread rumours.
2 more quarantine hotels
Meanwhile, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) official Lau Fong Chi announced during the press conference that the two more hotels in Cotai, the East Wing Tower of Grand Lisboa Palace Resort, and the Tower B1 of Grand Hyatt in the City of Dreams casino-hotel complex, will be used as quarantine hotels for COVID-19 medical observation from today. According to Lau, the two additional quarantine hotels can provide around 470 and 300 rooms respectively.
After the start of the current COVID-19 outbreak, two quarantine hotels in Cotai came into operation late last month, Lisboeta Macau and Sands China’s Parisian, providing around 650 and 2,300 rooms respectively.
Meanwhile, Leong also reaffirmed that the local government will stick to its dynamic zero-COVID policy by launching frequent mass nucleic acid testing drives and continuing to require everyone in Macau to self-test with a rapid antigen test kit.
Public bus driver infected
Meanwhile, public bus operator Transmac confirmed in a statement last night that one of its drivers has been infected with COVID-19. The statement underlined that the Health Bureau has concluded that the driver was not infected while working. According to the statement, the driver, whose gender was not identified, tested positive for COVID-19 in a rapid antigen test on Tuesday before working, after which his or her infection was confirmed by a nucleic acid test.
Cheong Kin Ian, who heads the Unitary Police Service’s (SPU) Police Affairs Liaison and Public Relations Division, addresses yesterday’s press conference about the city’s current COVID-19 outbreak. Photo: GCS
