The validity of the negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test (NAT) result for those travelling between Macau and Zhuhai has again been shortened to just 24 hours from 48 hours, which took effect at 3 p.m. yesterday, after a non-resident worker (NRW) who works as a security guard in Macau but lives in Zhongshan city tested positive for COVID-19 in Macau on Tuesday night.
The Zhuhai health authorities announced in a statement yesterday morning that the 24-hour NAT validity is slated to be provisionally implemented for seven days until 23:59 p.m. on Wednesday next week.
The Macau government underlined yesterday that the man’s case has only resulted in a low COVID-19 community transmission risk because the source of his infection has been clearly identified.
The Macau government also said yesterday that the man was “very likely” to have been infected with the novel coronavirus at an express courier outlet in the underground shopping centre next to the Gongbei checkpoint in Zhuhai.
The man’s case was first announced in a statement by Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre in the early hours of yesterday.
The statement said that a batch of mixed samples collected from the NAT sampling station at the Mong Ha Sports Centre tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday night. Consequently, the Health Bureau (SSM) contacted the respective testees to undergo a follow-up individual-sample nucleic acid test, after which the bureau confirmed that it was the security guard who tested positive for COVID-19.
The statement said that the security guard, aged 40, lives in Tanzhou town in Zhongshan city.
While Tanzhou town is in Zhongshan city, it neighbours Zhuhai and only lies some 10 kilometres northwest of Macau. Tanzhou is much closer to central Zhuhai than central Zhongshan city.
Macau-Zhuhai daily commuter
The statement said that the 40-year-old man commutes between Macau and Zhuhai via the Barrier Gate border checkpoint every day. After entering Macau from Zhuhai, the man normally walks to his workplace. After work, he also normally walks to the Barrier Gate checkpoint en route to Zhuhai, the statement said.
After returning to Zhuhai from Macau via the Barrier Gate checkpoint, the statement said, the man visits an express courier outlet in the Gongbei underground shopping centre every day. The statement said that the Health Bureau has classified the man’s case as imported after considering that he was “very likely” to have been infected with COVID-19 at the express courier outlet.
According to the statement, the man tested negative for COVID-19 in a nucleic acid test on Sunday and Monday respectively. The man, who has not come down with any COVID-19 symptoms, was transferred to the Health Bureau’s Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane for isolation treatment after he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 on Tuesday night.
Outsourced security guard works in govt building
A statement by the Lands and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU) in the early hours of yesterday confirmed that the 40-year-old man is an outsourced security guard working for the bureau, which occupies a number of floors of the Transport Bureau (DSAT) Building on Estrada de D. Maria II. The building, which is located opposite the headquarters of local power utility CEM, houses DSAT and DSSCU offices, as well as offices of the Public Works Bureau (DSOP).
Cleaning and disinfection were carried out in the building yesterday morning.
The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre said in a statement yesterday afternoon that those who visited the building, i.e., No. 33 on Estrada de D. Maria II, are required to undergo a number of nucleic acid tests. According to the statement, those who had visited the DSSCU offices are required to undergo four tests in five days, while those who had visited the DSAT or DSOP offices are required to undergo three nucleic acid tests in three days.
‘Low community risk’
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a public event yesterday morning, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said that the local government has concluded that the 40-year-old man’s case has only resulted in a low risk of the occurrence of COVID-19 community transmissions, because the source of his infection has been clearly identified. In addition, she said, the man’s recent travel history in Macau had been relatively “simple”, i.e., having visited just a few venues in recent days.
In addition to the 40-year-old man’s case, which was announced yesterday, three other COVID-19 cases affecting the community have been reported since Monday, two on Monday and one on Tuesday.
As of last night, according to official data, Macau’s COVID-19 tally stood at 795 confirmed and 1,860 asymptomatic cases, of which 789 and 1,792 had meanwhile been cured. The death toll remained at six.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U talks to reporters at the Macau Science Centre (MSC) yesterday. – Photo: GCS
