Macau recorded 957 COVID-19 infections on Monday, an increase of 184.8 percent from the 336 infections reported on Sunday, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced in a statement yesterday.
According to the statement, none of the 957 COVID-19 carriers were admitted to treatment facilities.
A total of 100 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to treatment facilities between May 1 and May 22, according to official figures.
According to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) COVID-19 website, which was updated yesterday, Macau’s official cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 3,620, of which 3,487 had meanwhile been cured.
The government decided to announce again the daily number of new COVID-19 infections in the city from last week, in the wake of the fact that COVID-19 infections have been on the rise since early this month.
From Wednesday last week to Sunday, according to previous announcements by the centre, the new daily numbers of COVID-19 infections were 702, 658, 551, 270, and 336 respectively.
The Macau government has underlined that the city is currently being affected by a new peak of COVID-19 infections.
Macau has not recorded any COVID-19 fatalities for 109 days in a row, from February 3 to May 22. Consequently, Macau’s official COVID-19 death toll has remained unchanged at 121.
14th round of RAT kit purchase scheme to start on Friday
Meanwhile, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced in a separate statement yesterday that the government’s 14th round of its rapid antigen test (RAT) kit purchase scheme will start on Friday.
As in previous rounds, the 14th round of the programme will run for 14 days, between Friday and June 8, during which each local resident, non-resident worker and non-local student enrolled in Macau’s higher education institutions will be entitled to buy a total of 10 RAT kits at the fixed price of 40 patacas at designated outlets, i.e., four patacas per kit.
According to the statement, COVID-19 RAT kits provided by the programme’s 14th round will be sold at 55 designated pharmacies, five venues run by the Macau Women’s General Association (known as Fu Luen in Cantonese), and five venues run by the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (Gung Luen).
The Macau government rolled out the programme in early December last year, enabling local residents, non-resident workers, and non-local students enrolled in Macau’s higher education institutions to buy RAT kits used for COVID-19 self-tests from designated outlets at a discounted price.
The local government has still not said when it will eventually cancel its COVID-19 RAT kit purchase scheme, as well as its facemask purchase scheme, which was rolled out in early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect the city.
