The Health Bureau (SSM) said yesterday that if Macau continues to have zero COVID-19 community cases every day, or reports only a very small number of such cases whose infection sources can be identified, the government’s mandatory wearing of facemasks when out and about can be relaxed during the current COVID-19-control consolidation period’s three-day extension from tomorrow through Monday, during which people will only be required to wear a surgical facemask when engaging in outdoor activities.
Leong Iek Hou, who heads the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Health Bureau, made the remarks during yesterday evening’s daily press conference about the viral menace.
The Health Bureau first announced on Wednesday that the government plans to extend the ongoing seven-day consolidation period, which is slated to end at 11:59 p.m. today, for three more days through Monday next week, after which Macau can enter a COVID-19-prevention stabilisation period provided that the government’s upcoming citywide nucleic acid testing (NAT) drive for everyone, which will be carried out tomorrow and Sunday, comes up with “a good result”.
According to Wednesday’s announcements, the possible stabilisation period will have various COVID-19 measures gradually relaxed, such as allowing restaurants to resume dine-in services, allowing more businesses to resume operations, and less frequent mandatory nucleic acid tests for those who leave home for work.
However, according to Wednesday’s announcements, those who dine in restaurants during the stabilisation period will be required to display a negative COVID-19 NAT result valid for 48 hours.
The government’s mandatory requirement for all adults to wear a KN95 facemask when out and about has remained in force since the current consolidation period commenced on Saturday last week.
Many residents have complained about the “uncomfortable” KN95 facemasks. However, the government has pointed out that the KN95 facemasks offer a higher degree of protection against COVID-19 than surgical facemasks.
Leong said during yesterday’s press conference that if Macau continues to have zero COVID-19 community cases or reports only a very small number of such cases with identified infection sources, in the run-up to the end of the current consolidation period, which is slated to end at 11:59 p.m. today, the government will relax its mandatory wearing of facemasks when out and about during the consolidation period’s three-day extension, during which people will only be required to wear a surgical facemask outdoors. She said that the Health Bureau will announce details on the relaxations “in due course”.
In addition, Leong said, more businesses and facilities will be allowed to gradually resume operations during the consolidation period’s three-day extension, which is slated to start at 00:00 a.m. tomorrow, such as indoor renovation projects, and shops in shopping centres without direct access to public roads.
Leong also said that if Macau can enter a stabilisation period after the current consolidation period’s three-day extension, more types of businesses and facilities whose operations are currently still banned will “certainly” be allowed to resume operations.
Furthermore, Leong also said that if Macau continues to have zero COVID-19 community cases every day in the foreseeable future, the government’s COVID-19 measures “will certainly become more and more relaxed”.
Tally reaches 1,819, no community cases for 5 days in row
The latest tally of Macau’s current COVID-19 outbreak, which was detected on June 18, has increased by three to 1,819, according to a Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre statement yesterday morning. The three new locally transmitted cases were detected between 00:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, raising the outbreak tally from 1,816 as of Tuesday night to 1,819 as of Wednesday night.
None of the three new local cases reported on Wednesday were detected in the community. All three cases were detected in locked-down (Red Code Zone) buildings and medical observation quarantine hotels, the statement said.
It was the fifth consecutive day that no community cases were detected.
2 more key areas
Meanwhile, the government has classified two more areas in Areia Preta as high-risk key areas that are subject to a one-off mandatory nucleic acid test. The one-off mandatory tests, which started yesterday and will end today, cover those who live or work in an area in the vicinity of Avenida do Almirante Magalhães Correia and Avenida do Nordeste, or an area in the vicinity of Avenida do Nordeste and Rua dos Pescadores. Their mandatory tests were announced during Wednesday’s COVID-19 press conference.
Meanwhile, senior Unitary Police Service (SPU) officer Cheong Kin Ian underlined during yesterday’s press conference that the Macau government has always been in close communication with its Zhuhai counterpart for the latter’s possible lifting of its quarantine requirement for arrivals from Macau.
Outdoor NAT stations
The government has been setting-up outdoor nucleic acid test (NAT) sampling stations in certain locations across the city, which will be used as regular NAT sampling stations for the foreseeable future when the city returns to a normalised COVID-19 prevention and control period after the current outbreak is basically over. The Health Bureau said earlier this week that more regular NAT sampling stations across the city are needed because people in general could be expected to continue to be subject to regular nucleic acid tests for a period of time even after the current outbreak is basically over.
The Health Bureau said earlier this week that only after Macau returns to the normal period that had been in force before the current outbreak, would people in general no longer need to undergo regular nucleic acid tests. The bureau also underlined that those in high-risk key occupations had always been subject to regular nucleic acid tests before the current outbreak such as health workers, quarantine hotel staff, and those working in the frozen food sector.
The bureau said that regular nucleic acid tests to be carried out for a wider population during a post-outbreak period will be needed to prevent an outbreak from occurring again.
Three outdoor NAT sampling stations came into service earlier this week. All of them are operated by a new sampling and testing institution, a joint venture between China Travel Service (CTS) Macau and Shanghai GeneoDx Biotech Company Limited.
The bureau also announced during yesterday’s press conference that there are no more buildings subject to Red Code Zone conditions, i.e., they are no longer locked down.
Leong Iek Hou, who heads the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division, addresses yesterday’s press conference about the city’s COVID-19 situation. Photo: GCS
