Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said yesterday the government expected that it would be “unlikely” for Macau to be hit by widespread COVID-19 infections again during the upcoming Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday period.
The Chinese New Year of the Rabbit falls on January 22.
The chief executive also dismissed the claim that the local government’s decision last month to ease the city’s COVID-19 curbs aimed to boost the local economy “at the expense of” residents’ health.
Ho made the remarks while speaking to reporters at the Services Platform Complex for Commercial and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (PSCs) in Nam Van after attending a Spring Festival reception yesterday hosted by the Central People’s Government Liaison Office in Macau.
Ho reaffirmed that “many” residents who had been infected with COVID-19 chose not to report their positive self-test results on the Health Bureau’s (SSM) e-platform, because of which, he said, the government was unable to come up with a more accurate estimate of the real number of people in Macau who have been infected with COVID-19 since last month’s launch of the government’s adjusted anti-COVID-19 approach.
Nevertheless, Ho underlined, the local government has estimated that at least 70 percent of the population has already been infected with COVID-19, based on its various COVID-19-related figures.
Ho noted that those who have recovered from COVID-19 will have a relatively strong level of antibodies equivalent to having received a COVID-19 jab, adding that their antibody levels will normally remain relatively strong for “a period of time” before starting to decline. Consequently, Ho said, for the time being the government does not expect a new wave of widespread COVID-19 infections to occur in Macau in the near future.
The local government has said that Macau had its first peak of COVID-19 infections around the Christmas holiday period, following its decision to abandon its long-running dynamic zero-COVID approach early last month.
The chief executive insisted that the local government does not aim to boost the local economy at the expense of residents’ health by adjusting its approach to tackling COVID-19.
Ho said that the local government has now been aiming to protect residents’ health via two major aspects, namely providing COVID-19 vaccines and medicines used for relieving COVID-19 symptoms.
Ho pointed out that the government has purchased a “large” quantity of BioNTech mRNA bivalent jabs used for the administration of booster shots. In addition, he said, the government will continue with its current measure that imposes restrictions on the amounts of certain medicines used for relieving COVID-19 symptoms that each person can buy from local pharmacies each time, until their supplies become “ample”.
Now is residents’ turn to ensure their own health: Ho
Ho said that in the new landscape tackling COVID-19, it is now residents who take up the major role of ensuring their own health. He said that the government had “achieved” its two objectives of providing COVID-19 vaccines and medicines for relieving COVID-19 symptoms, adding that consequently residents should be able to make use of them to ensure their own health.
Furthermore, Ho also underlined that the experience of Macau’s current COVID-19 infections indicates that COVID-19 vaccinations are able to protect people from suffering from serious conditions or even dying from the novel coronavirus. Ho noted that the vaccination rate among senior citizens living in care homes run by social service organisations is higher than the jab rate among seniors living in their own homes in the community. Consequently, he said, many “very old” senior citizens living in care homes were able to get through this “difficult and tough” period caused by last month’s COVID-19 infection peak, in “strong” contrast to those living at home.
7 more COVID-19 fatalities, raising death toll to 102
Meanwhile, Macau’s official COVID-19 death toll has risen to 102 after seven people died of the novel coronavirus disease on Wednesday, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced in a statement yesterday.
According to the statement, the seven victims, three males and four females, aged between 63 and 94, had all suffered from underlying diseases.
Only two of them had not been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, or about 29 percent, the statement said.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s statement also announced that 23 new patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease were admitted to the Health Bureau’s isolation and treatment facilities on Wednesday.
No more consumption subsidy: Ho
Meanwhile, Ho also told reporters yesterday that for the time being the government does not plan to roll out an electronic consumption benefit scheme for this year.
The local government has rolled out a number of rounds of its electronic consumption benefit scheme since the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect Macau in early 2020.
Last year’s electronic consumption benefit scheme comprised a 5,000-pataca start-up fund and a 3,000-pataca immediate discount grant. In addition, the government started to issue another 8,000-pataca consumption subsidy in October last year with the aim of relieving residents’ financial hardship resulting from Macau’s previous COVID-19 outbreak that began on June 18 last year and started to subside in late July.
Ho also said yesterday that neither does the government plan to roll out an extra “wealth-sharing” cash handout for this year.
According to Ho’s 2023 Policy Address, which was announced in November last year, this year’s amount of the annual cash handout, which will be paid to residents later this year, will remain unchanged at 10,000 patacas for permanent residents and 6,000 patacas for non-permanent residents.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (left) talks to reporters at the Services Platform Complex for Commercial and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries in Nam Van yesterday, as Government Information Bureau (GCS) Director Inês Chan Lou looks on.
– Photo: Yuki Lei
