In response to the government’s second phase of the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control measures in which COVID-19 infectees can now choose to stay at home for isolation treatment, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre has launched a “Home Quarantine Information Network” to help the public better understand the precautions for home quarantine, according to a statement by the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) yesterday.
The bureau urged the public to show a spirit of mutual help to their neighbours in need and to take the initiative to assist anyone who has difficulty accessing the website: https://iasapp4.ias.gov.mo/homeQuarantine/.
The website is available only in Chinese and Portuguese.
According to the website, those coming up with a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) result or positive nucleic acid test (NAT) result can conduct a self-assessment through the electronic platform: https://eservice.ssm.gov.mo/covid19positivebook, the results of which will be displayed in different colours denoting four categories – Green for direct home isolation treatment, Yellow for making an appointment with their local community clinic, Orange for going to the Community Treatment Centre at Macau East Asian Games Dome in Coloane for further triage, and Red to be transferred by ambulance for special emergency treatment to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre.
The platform is available in Chinese, English and Portuguese.
The home quarantine guidelines underline that those who have their isolation treatment at home should undergo a temperature check and self-health monitoring twice a day, in the morning and the evening, adding that if their temperature exceeds 38.5°C, antipyretic drugs can be taken to lower their temperature, while cough and sore throat can be treated with symptomatic drugs.
The government urged those with a temperature below 38.5°C to resort to physical cooling measures as the main treatment for their fever.
Daily health reports are required through the electronic platform: https://app.ssm.gov.mo/health_declare for medical staff members to know their condition.
The government underlined that infected patients must undergo an RAT and upload the result to their Macau Health Code before going out, while urging patients to undergo an RAT at least on or after the fourth day of the course of the disease counting from the date the symptoms began to appear or the date when their RAT or NAT was positive for COVID-19.
Home quarantine for infected patients will be lifted when they have no obvious symptoms and their RAT has been negative twice on two consecutive days, or their NAT result is negative once.
During home isolation treatment, the guidelines point out, if the infected person has difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, his or her temperature remains higher than 38.5°C for more than three days after drug treatment or an original underlying medical condition is significantly aggravated, they should seek medical attention immediately and call an ambulance if necessary, adding that children who appear lethargic, persistently refuse to eat, infants who have feeding difficulties, persistent diarrhoea or vomiting, or pregnant women who have symptoms such as a headache, dizziness, palpitation, and chest tightness, or abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding or discharge, or abnormal foetal movement should see a doctor promptly.
This image provided by the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) yesterday shows the QR code of the government’s newly launched Home Quarantine Information Network.
