Another round of mass tests aims to ensure COVID-19 community risk has been ‘basically cleared’: Leong
The Macau government has launched another round of citywide nucleic acid tests (NATs), which starts at 7 a.m. today, with the aim of ensuring that the COVID-19 community risk connected to Macau’s current novel coronavirus situation that began last week has been “basically cleared”.
The mass NAT campaign this time will end at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The citywide NAT drive covers everyone in Macau, i.e., local residents, non-resident workers (NRWs) and anyone else who is currently in Macau.
Babies under the age of one will be exempted from this time’s citywide NAT drive where around six dozen sampling stations will operate across the city.
Addressing yesterday evening’s press conference by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, Leong Iek Hou, who heads the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Health Bureau (SSM), reaffirmed that the new round of mandatory citywide nucleic acid tests aims to confirm that Macau has returned to a “safe tourist destination” free from COVID-19.
The government’s decision to carry out another round of mandatory mass nucleic acid tests was announced by the centre’s conference on Wednesday.
Macau’s latest citywide NAT drive that was carried out from 7 a.m. on Tuesday to 11 a.m. on Wednesday was triggered by Monday’s detection of a 58-old-year local COVID-19-infected man who works in a fresh seafood wholesale shop near Praça de Ponte e Horta in the Inner Harbour area and lives in Zhuhai.
No COVID-19 positive results were reported from the NAT campaign.
The man is normally tasked with delivering seafood to restaurants.
Macau’s current COVID-19 situation began on Tuesday last week when a 66-year-old local woman tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Zhuhai, whose infection was confirmed by the Macau Health Bureau the following day. Her two family members, her son and younger sister, as well as a 57-year-old local man living in the same building in Fai Chi Kei, were also diagnosed with COVID-19 later last week.
In addition, a 43-year-old local woman, who works as a croupier at the MGM COTAI casino-hotel resort, as well as her two 13-year-old sons, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. In addition, a 34-year-old local woman living in the same building in Iao Hon district was also diagnosed with COVID-19 later the same day.
The 66-year-old woman and the 43-year-old woman visited an express courier outlet in the underground shopping centre next to the Gongbei checkpoint in Zhuhai on Tuesday last week at the same time.
Furthermore, two more cases related to the 66-year-old woman were diagnosed early this week, namely the wife and a son of the 57-year-old man living in the same building in Fai Chi Kei.
Consequently, 10 cases had been reported from the two COVID-19 clusters. The government has underlined that the two clusters were clearly connected and they have only resulted in a low COVID-19 community transmission risk.
In contrast, the Macau Health Bureau said earlier this week that the case of the 58-year-old man who works for the fresh seafood wholesale shop entailed the “highest” risk to the community because the source of his infection had still not been identified, pointing out that he had had an “extensive” travel history across the city before he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Monday.
Sunday’s COVID-19 detection of the 43-year-old casino croupier triggered a three-day mandatory self-testing drive that was carried out from that day to Tuesday. The government decided to continue the mandatory rapid antigen tests (RATs) for everyone in Macau for three more days due to the potentially high risk to the community resulting from the 58-year-old man’s case. The ongoing three-day self-testing drive ends today, i.e., everyone in Macau will have to undergo one more rapid antigen test, by 11:59 p.m. today.
As of last night, no COVID-19 positive results had been reported from the government’s ongoing self-testing campaign, which started on Sunday.
‘4 provinces & 1 municipality’
Leong underlined during Wednesday’s press conference that the second citywide NAT drive was needed despite the fact that all of the around 725,000 test results in the first round, which was carried out from 7 a.m. on Tuesday to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, were negative.
Leong said on Wednesday that the government had decided to carry out the second mass NAT campaign with the aim of ensuring that Macau is safe from COVID-19. Leong said that the second NAT campaign aims to ensure the “smooth” implementation of the central government’s resumption of mainlanders’ electronic applications for a travel permit to Macau, which got off the ground on Tuesday, as well as to enable the local government to “well prepare” for the upcoming resumption of tour groups from Guangdong as well as Fujian, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang to visit Macau. The measure that was originally slated to get off the ground early this month for the five regions initially is commonly known in Chinese as “four provinces and one municipality”.
Leong said on Wednesday that the fact that no COVID-19 positive results were reported from the first citywide NAT drive and from the government’s self-testing campaign indicated a low COVID-19 community risk, adding that the second mass NAT campaign aims to enable the local government to confirm that the community is safe from COVID-19 with the objective of better preparing for the boosting of the city’s economic recovery.
Leong said on Wednesday that if no COVID-19 positive results are reported from the second citywide NAT drive, the government will not hold another round of mandatory mass nucleic acid tests.
Leong reaffirmed during yesterday’s press conference that the Macau Health Bureau has concluded that the COVID-19 community risk connected to Macau’s current COVID-19 situation that began last week, particularly resulting from the 58-year-old man’s case that was detected on Monday, has been “basically cleared”, after no positive results had been reported from the first citywide NAT drive and from the government’s self-testing campaign.
28 hours
This time’s citywide NAT drive will run from 7 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. today, and from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow. This means that the testing campaign will last 28 hours.
Due to the impact of Typhoon Nalgae, the first mass NAT campaign that was carried out from 7 a.m. on Tuesday to 11 a.m. on Wednesday with the testing stations closed from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. between the two days lasted only 22 hours. No one was exempt from participating in the first mass NAT campaign.
This time, babies under the age of one will be exempted from mandatory citywide nucleic acid tests.
Leong underlined yesterday that those who underwent a COVID-19 nucleic acid test yesterday must also undergo the new and second round of mandatory mass nucleic acid tests.
Leong also noted that as the ongoing self-testing drive ends today, those who choose to participate in the second citywide NAT drive tomorrow will no longer need to self-test for COVID-19 with an RAT kit at home in advance that day before going to an NAT station for their mass nucleic acid tests.
The government yesterday also urged all those participating in this time’s citywide NAT drive to wear a KN95 facemask when going to the testing stations.
Everyone tested during this time’s mass NAT campaign will be handed five COVID-19 RAT kits for self-tests.
24-hour NAT validity for air or ferry passengers to mainland
Meanwhile, all those departing for the mainland from Macau by air or ferry have now been required to present an NAT certificate confirming a negative COVID-19 result valid for just 24 hours. The new measure, which was announced by a Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination statement on Tuesday and took effect at 12 p.m. on Wednesday.
Previously, i.e., before the new measure, the negative COVID-19 NAT result for air passengers from Macau flying to the mainland was normally valid for seven days.
Due to Macau’s current COVID-19 situation, the negative COVID-19 result for those travelling between Macau and Zhuhai has been valid for just 24 hours since Sunday, a change from 48 hours.
Macau has several land-border checkpoints with Zhuhai, and runs a ferry service with Zhuhai’s Wanzai harbour. Macau currently also operates a ferry service with Shenzhen. The new measure that took effect on Wednesday means that the negative COVID-19 result for ferry passengers from Macau to Shenzhen in Guangdong province are now also valid for just 24 hours.
Leong said yesterday that the new measure aims to prevent COVID-19 cases from passing from Macau to the mainland.
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 current COVID-19 situation. – Photo: GCS
