COVID-19 now endemic in Macau: govt
Macau’s official COVID-19 death toll has risen to 83, after 20 people died of the novel coronavirus disease in just three days, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre has announced.
According to three latest daily statements by the centre, which were released from Friday to yesterday, Macau recorded nine COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday, six on Friday, and five on Saturday.
The 20 victims, 13 males and 7 females, aged between 69 and 99, had all suffered from underlying diseases, according to the statements.
According to the statements, only 9 of the 20 fatalities had not been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, or 45 percent.
The nine fatalities recorded on Thursday broke the record of daily fatalities of seven, which were recorded on December 26 and 30.
Macau’s first six COVID-19 fatalities were reported during Macau’s previous COVID-19 outbreak that began on June 18 last year and started to subside in late July, colloquially known as 618 outbreak in Cantonese. The Macau government was pursuing a dynamic zero-COVID approach when the city was hit by the 618 outbreak.
Macau’s seventh COVID-19 fatality was reported on December 13, a few days after the Macau government switched to an adjusted anti-COVID-19 approach that implicitly allows constant transmissions of the novel coronavirus in the community.
Meanwhile, from Thursday to Saturday, according to the three statements, the new daily number of patients admitted to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) isolation and treatment facilities after having been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease were 89, 107, and 77 respectively.
According to the Health Bureau’s COVID-19 website, which was updated yesterday, Macau’s official cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 3,282, of which 2,953 had meanwhile been cured.
600 deaths recorded last month: health chief
Meanwhile, the Macau government has acknowledged that Macau recorded about 600 deaths last month, as opposed to an average of around 200 per month over the past two years.
Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long made the remarks while replying to reporters’ questions during Thursday’s press conference which announced the Macau government’s cancellation of almost all of its COVID-19 entry curbs and measures, which got off the ground yesterday.
According to local media reports, the city’s mortuary sector has been hard hit by a higher-than-normal average daily number of deaths since last month. Reporters asked during Thursday’s press conference about the number of deaths recorded in the city last month. Lo revealed that a total of around 600 people died of various causes last month, while 57 people were officially classified as having died of the novel coronavirus disease between December 13 and January 4.
According to official statistics, Macau recorded 608 deaths in the fourth quarter of 2021. Lo noted on Thursday that Macau recorded around 2,300 deaths per year during the previous two years, an average of around 200 per month, acknowledging that the number of deaths recorded last month was “certainly high”.
According to official statistics, Macau recorded 608 deaths in the fourth quarter of 2021. Lo noted on Thursday that Macau recorded around 2,300 deaths per year during the previous two years, an average of around 200 per month, acknowledging that the number of deaths recorded last month was “certainly high”.
Lo acknowledged that the city’s mortuary sector has been hard hit by the predicament. But he also added that in addition to a higher number of deaths, the sector’s struggle with its operation last month was also due to the fact that many mortuary workers were infected with COVID-19 last month.
Lo also said that according to experiences worldwide, when a place is hit by its first peak of widespread COVID-19 infections, it normally has a relatively high COVID-19 death rate, after which the death rate will gradually decline when the place is hit by its subsequent peaks of infections.
Lo also underlined that Macau follows the mainland’s definition of classifying deaths resulting from the novel coronavirus disease.
Lo also said on Thursday that Macau’s first peak of daily new serious cases had begun to decline, adding that there were around 150 ambulance trips to the special emergency department of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre per day on average last week, around the same level as normal winters, a significant decline from around 400 trips per day on average when Macau was hit by its peak of daily new serious cases last month.
COVID-19 is now endemic, no more health codes
The Macau government yesterday ended the city’s transition period tackling COVID-19, which began on December 8 when it commenced its gradual easing of COVID-19 curbs implicitly allowing constant transmissions of the novel coronavirus in the community.
Meanwhile, the Health Bureau has said that COVID-19 has now become an endemic disease in Macau following the termination of an anti-COVID-19 transition period. A Health Bureau statement yesterday reaffirmed the remarks, which were made by Lo during Thursday’s press conference.
Since yesterday, when the city’s anti-COVID-19 transition period ended, people in Macau are no longer required to report their state of health by generating a Macau Health Code when entering any public venues in the city. Saturday’s statement underlined that workers at any public venues “should no longer” require those entering to present a health code.
The Macau Health Code app ceased its red code and yellow code yesterday, according to Saturday’s statement.
Residents and visitors walk in Rua do Cunha in Taipa village yesterday, when Macau scrapped almost all of its COVID-19 entry curbs and measures. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
