Macau reported two COVID-19 positive cases yesterday, and the two carriers had engaged in normal daily activities in the community before they were diagnosed yesterday, while the local government said yesterday that for the time being it did not plan to launch a mandatory citywide nucleic acid testing (NAT) drive because the sources of the two cases’ infection have been clearly identified.
One of the cases, a man who works in Zhuhai and lives in Macau, has been classified as imported, while the other case has been classified as connected to imported cases – a woman who lives with her parents who has tested positive for COVID-19 again, i.e., re-positive cases, after completing their hotel quarantine after returning from Portugal via Germany.
The Health Bureau (SSM) underlined yesterday that it has concluded that the man’s case has only resulted in a relatively low COVID-19 community transmission risk, but it was still assessing the level of the COVID-19 risk to the community resulting from the woman’s infection by carrying out nucleic acid tests for staff members of a restaurant, where she works, in the Grand Suites at Four Seasons, an apartment hotel in Cotai.
The bureau also said yesterday that it has concluded that for the time being large-scale activities and events in the city would not need to be cancelled.
The two cases were announced in statements yesterday afternoon from the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, which convened a press conference in the evening where Health Bureau Director Alvis Lo Iek Long announced more details of the two cases.
The buildings where the two COVID-19 carriers live were respectively locked down yesterday afternoon, i.e., after having been listed as Red Code Zones. The two buildings’ residents are barred from leaving their homes and are required to undergo regular nucleic acid tests during their respective lockdown periods, which are provisionally slated to end on Sunday.
The man lives in Block 2 of Seng Hei Court (成熙閣) on Rua de S. Lourenço (風順堂街), i.e., opposite São Lourenço Church, close to Government Headquarters.
The woman lives in Tranquility Court (保寧閣) on Avenida do Ouvidor Arriaga (雅廉訪大馬路).
Man works at express courier outlet in Gongbei underground shopping centre
According to Lo, the imported case is a 34-year-old male mainlander who lives in Macau but works at an express courier outlet in the underground shopping centre next to the Gongbei checkpoint in Zhuhai.
Zhuhai health authorities told their Macau counterparts in the early hours of yesterday that the man had visited the same place in the Gongbei underground shopping centre at the same time as a person who was later diagnosed with COVID-19 in Zhuhai.
In response, Lo said, the Macau Health Bureau then transferred the man to quarantine where he underwent a nucleic acid test, which came up with a “weak” COVID-19 positive result yesterday morning.
Lo said that after the detection of the man’s case, his wife and son living with him have been transferred to quarantine where both tested negative for COVID-19 in their first nucleic acid test yesterday.
Lo said that the man entered Macau from Zhuhai at around 10 p.m. on Sunday. In addition, Lo said, the COVID-19 positive result of his nucleic acid test yesterday had a cycle threshold (CT) value of 39, indicating a low viral load. Consequently, Lo said, the Health Bureau has concluded that the man’s case has only resulted in a relatively low risk of the occurrence of COVID-19 community transmissions.
A high CT value indicates a low viral load.
Due to the man’s case, Lo said, the Macau Health Bureau has required all those in Macau who had visited the Gongbei underground shopping centre between Friday and Sunday to undergo a daily nucleic acid test for three consecutive days.
Daughter lives with ‘re-positive’ parents who returned from Portugal
According to Lo, the case connected to imported cases announced yesterday is a 21-year-old local woman who works as an intern at Vista 38, a restaurant on the 38th floor of the Grand Suites at Four Seasons.
The woman’s parents returned to Macau from Portugal on October 29 when they started their hotel quarantine. According to Lo, the father and mother tested positive for COVID-19 on October 31 and November 1 respectively during their hotel quarantine, because of which they underwent treatment with antiviral medication.
According to Lo, the father and mother were released from isolation treatment on Thursday last week after meeting the officially required criteria, namely having tested negative for COVID-19 in two consecutive nucleic acid tests or having still tested positive but with a CT value of over 35 in both tests.
However, Lo said, both tested positive for COVID-19 again, i.e., re-positive cases, on Sunday in a nucleic acid test required for those who have been released from isolation treatment. In a follow-up test on Sunday night, the father tested positive with a CT value of 30.8, while the mother tested positive with a CT value of 31.3, Lo said.
Lo said that according to the Health Bureau’s current version of guidelines, the two people were required to be transferred to isolation again as both have tested positive for COVID-19 again in a nucleic acid test with a CT value of less than 32.
According to the bureau’s guidelines, Lo said, family members living with those who have been released from COVID-19 isolation treatment are required to undergo three nucleic acid tests, on the second, fourth and sixth day after the release from isolation treatment.
According to Lo, the 21-year-old woman tested negative for COVID-19 in a nucleic acid test on Saturday. As her parents had been transferred to isolation again, she was classified as a close contact and has been transferred to quarantine. However, Lo said, the 21-year-old woman tested positive in a COVID-19 nucleic acid test with a CT value of 16, indicating a relatively high viral load.
In response, Lo said, the operations of the Vista 38 restaurant where the woman works as an intern has been suspended.
Lo underlined that the Health Bureau has been carrying out rapid antigen tests (RATs) and nucleic acid tests (NATs) on the restaurant’s staff members with the aim of assessing the level of the potential COVID-19 risk to the community resulting from the 21-year-old woman’s case.
Lo also underlined that the bureau is intensively carrying out its epidemiological investigation with the aim of quickly identifying the woman’s potential close contacts and all others affected by her COVID-19 infection.
As of last night, according to official data, Macau’s COVID-19 tally stood at 795 confirmed and 1,842 asymptomatic cases, of which 789 and 1,782 had meanwhile been cured. Macau’s COVID-19 death toll remained at six.
Workers of the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) and an outsourced cleaning company prepare to clean and disinfect Block 2 of Seng Hei Court on Rua de S. Lourenço yesterday afternoon, which were locked down after a man living there tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday morning. – Photo: Yuki Lei
