The Macau government announced this afternoon mandatory nucleic acid tests (NATs) for all tomorrow.
Macau Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long announced the measure at a regular press conference by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre.
According to Lo, all those who already undergo their NAT today don't need to get tested again tomorrow.
Within minutes after the announcement, long lines started to form outside the city's testing stations.
The one-day mandatory testing drive comes after the number of new COVID-19 cases since last Tuesday rose to nine this morning. Many of the cases involve regular Macau-Zhuhai border crossers.
Macau people are used to mandatory NAT drives, several rounds of which have been held by the government since the city confirmed its first COVID-19 case in January 2020.
Some of the cases involving Macau residents were detected by the health authorities in Zhuhai. One of the patients worked as a croupier at the MGM COTAI casino-hotel resort, which has been temporarily closed.
In general, Macau follows the central government's dynamic zero COVID policy.
As of this afternoon, according to Macau Health Bureau data, Macau's COVID-19 tally of confirmed and asymptomatic cases stood at 793 and 1,767 respectively, 787 and 1,744 of the cases have meanwhile been cured. Macau's COVID-19 death toll remained at six.
Macau's population stood at 677,300 at the end of June, according to the latest available official demographics.
