Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long says that a number of COVID-19 infections detected in Macau over the past two weeks were confirmed as being Arcturus, a new Omicron subvariant.
Dr Lo did not reveal the exact number of Arcturus infections detected in Macau.
According to Dr Lo, non-locals who had recently arrived in Macau accounted for most of the Arcturus infections detected here in the past two weeks.
Dr Lo made the remarks during a press conference on Friday summarising the two-day 20th Tripartite Meeting on Prevention and Treatment of Communicable Diseases between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.
The two-day closed-door meeting, which was attended by health officials and professionals from the three regions, was held between Thursday and Friday at the Sheraton Grand hotel in Cotai.
The next tripartite meeting, i.e., the 21st, is scheduled to be held in Guangdong.
Friday’s press conference was jointly addressed by Dr Lo and his counterparts from Guangdong and Hong Kong.
The Arcturus subvariant, scientifically known as XBB.1.16, was first detected in India in January. Arcturus, which is driving the current wave of COVID-19 infections in India, has now been detected in around two dozen countries. The world’s first fatality infected with Arcturus was reported in Thailand last week.
During Friday’s press conference, Dr Lo said that the findings of the Health Bureau’s viral genome sequencing for COVID-19 cases detected in Macau in the past two weeks indicated that some of the cases were carrying the Arcturus subvariant.
Dr Lo noted that currently only a small number of people in Macau are reporting their COVID-19 infections detected by their rapid antigen tests (RATs, aka self-tests) to the Health Bureau every day. In addition, Dr Lo pointed out, only a small number of COVID-19 nucleic acid tests (NATs) are currently being carried out by laboratories in the city every day.
Dr Lo went on to point out that most COVID-19 nucleic acid tests in Macau currently are carried out for those who need to enter the mainland from Macau after arriving here from foreign countries.
Consequently, Dr Lo said, most of the Arcturus infections that have been detected in Macau were of non-Macau residents.
Dr Lo pledged that the Macau Health Bureau will continue to closely monitor the latest development of COVID-19 infections with different variants in the city.
Dr Lo also underlined that the local government has now been tackling COVID-19 as an endemic disease, because of which the Health Bureau is now putting stronger emphasis on tackling various respiratory diseases, including COVID-19 and influenza, in a way that minimises their adverse impact on the population.
Dr Lo also said that the city’s flu peak has been subsiding over the past week.
Man diagnosed with monkeypox in HK had visited Macau
Meanwhile, the Macau Health Bureau (SSM) announced in a statement on Friday that a man who was diagnosed with monkeypox in Hong Kong last week had visited Macau for two days early this month.
However, the statement underlined that the man was unlikely to have been infected with monkeypox in Macau.
Hong Kong’s Department of Health (DH) informed its Macau counterparts, our Health Bureau, on Thursday night about the man’s case.
According to Friday’s SSM statement and a DH statement on Thursday night, the 34-year-old Hong Kong man, who had not been vaccinated against monkeypox, came down with a localised rash on April 12. As his symptoms had not subsided, the man sought treatment at a private clinic on Wednesday last week, when he was transferred to an isolation ward at Princess Margaret Hospital for treatment.
According to the two statements, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health confirmed on Thursday that the man’s sample tested positive for the monkeypox virus.
The SSM statement said that the man visited Macau on April 4 and 5, adding that he had not engaged in any activities that posed an infection risk while he was in Macau.
However, according to the two statements, the man had high-risk exposure during the incubation period in Hong Kong.
According to the two statements, one of the 34-year-old man’s close contacts had recently travelled to areas affected by monkeypox, including South Korea and Taiwan. The close contact also came down with a rash on April 12.
Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection has classified the close contact as a suspected imported case and transferred him to a hospital for treatment and tests, according to the two statements.
The SSM statement noted that monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact, such as sexual practices, with infected people and close contact with animals or virus-contaminated materials. The statement also noted that most of the monkeypox cases reported around the world have been related to gay sexual practices.
According to the SSM statement, the incubation period of monkeypox normally ranges from 6 to 13 days. However, the statement said, the disease’s incubation can also range from 5 to 21 days.
The SSM statement underlined that the 34-year-old man was not likely to have been infectious during his visit to Macau on April 4 and 5 because he only came down with symptoms in Hong Kong on April 12.
The SSM statement noted that the 34-year-old man had high-risk contact during the incubation period in Hong Kong and his close contact had also come down with the same symptoms, but he had not engaged in risky activities while he was in Macau. Consequently, the statement said, the Health Bureau has concluded that he was unlikely to have been infected with monkeypox in Macau.
Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long addresses Friday’s press conference at the Sheraton Grand hotel in Cotai summarising the 20th Tripartite Meeting on Prevention and Treatment of Communicable Diseases between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.
– Photo courtesy of TDM
