Another local crew member of a cargo ship plying the Hong Kong-Macau route has tested positive for COVID-19, because of which all those who live or work in the vicinity of his home in Patane district have been required to undergo two nucleic acid tests (NATs) in three days from Saturday to today.
The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced the case on Friday. The case, a 64-year-old man, came after the detection of his colleague, a 73-year-old local man, on Wednesday.
Macau has around 40 local residents who are crew members of cargo ships plying the Hong Kong-Macau route. They are currently exempt from “closed-loop management” as long as they comply with the Health Bureau’s (SSM) special COVID-19 measures, meaning that they can return to their home and enter the community every time they return from Hong Kong on their vessels.
Both cases, which were detected on Wednesday morning and Friday morning last week respectively, have been classified as imported from Hong Kong.
The building where the 73-year-old sailor lives has been listed as a Red Code Zone, Mayfair Court on Rua de Francisco António, which is located near Praça de Ponte e Horta in the Inner Harbour area. In the wake of his case, all those living or working in the vicinity of his home were required to undergo two nucleic acid tests in three days from Wednesday to Friday. No positive results were detected in the three-day NAT campaign for the area around the 73-year-old man’s home.
The lockdown period of Mayfair Court is provisionally slated to end tomorrow.
In the wake of the 64-year-old man’s case, the building where he lives has meanwhile also been listed as a Red Code Zone, Apollo Building on Rua da Ribeira do Patane in the Inner Harbour area. The building’s lockdown period is provisionally slated to end on Thursday.
Residents in Red Code Zones are barred from leaving their homes and are required to undergo regular nucleic acid tests during their respective lockdown periods.
Those who live or work in the vicinity of the 64-year-old man’s home should undergo each of the two required nucleic acid tests at least 24 hours apart.
Friday’s statement by the centre underlined that after the 73-year-old man’s COVID-19 detection on Wednesday morning last week, the 64-year-old man was transferred to a quarantine facility for medical observation.
The 73-year-old sailor and his 64-year-old colleague went to work on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday last week, i.e., they boarded the Hong Kong-bound vessel on those days.
According to Friday’s statement, the 64-year-old sailor tested negative for COVID-19 in daily nucleic acid tests between August 4 and Wednesday last week. A test he had had on Thursday evening last week, when he was already undergoing quarantine, came up with a positive COVID-19 result on Friday morning, the statement said.
Sailor’s wife also infected
Meanwhile, the wife of the 73-year-old sailor also tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday morning, the centre announced in a statement last night.
Last night’s statement underlined that the woman, aged 70, has meanwhile been transferred to a quarantine facility for medical observation after her husband was diagnosed with COVID-19 infection on Wednesday morning last week.
The woman tested negative for COVID-19 in daily nucleic acid tests between Wednesday and Friday last week. A test she had undergone on Saturday evening came up with a positive result yesterday morning.
Last night’s statement underlined that the woman’s case has not caused any community transmission risk as she has been in quarantine since Wednesday last week.
Meanwhile, as of last night Macau’s tally of confirmed and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases since January 22, 2020 stood at 791 and 1,431 respectively, including six fatalities according to the Health Bureau’s Special Website Against Epidemics.
A total of 787 confirmed and 1,330 asymptomatic cases had already been cured, the bureau pointed out.
Health professions work outside Apollo Building in Patane district on Saturday where a 64-year-old crew member of a cargo ship plying the Hong Kong-Macau route lives. The building was listed as a Red Code Zone on Friday night after the detection of the sailor’s COVID-19 infection. – Photo courtesy of TDM
