Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said yesterday that while the current weekly number of people seeking treatment at the emergency department of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre for respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza and pneumonia has slightly increased compared to previous weeks, the number still remains relatively low.
However, the policy secretary warned that with the weather expected to get colder in the near future, the number of infections could be expected to continue rising. She was quick to add that the situation was expected to still be manageable.
Ao Ieong made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of yesterday’s charity event “Walk for a Million”.
Ao Ieong noted that those visiting hospitals or care homes in the city are currently required to wear a facemask, adding that Macau’s current facemask-wearing requirements are essentially the same as the mainland’s facemask-wearing guidelines currently in force there.
Ao Ieong underlined that the Macau Health Bureau (SSM) is closely monitoring the real-time data of the city’s number of patients seeking emergency treatment and inpatients. She said that once the number of patients exceeds the official “warning level”, the bureau will increase the number of doctors and other health workers on duty to tackle the situation.
Meanwhile, also speaking to reporters on the sidelines of yesterday’s charity event, SSM Director Alvis Lo Iek Long said that 10 percent of random samples collected from patients suffering respiratory infectious diseases over the past week were influenza infections, while two percent were COVID-19 infections. Most of the remaining samples were infections with various types of adenoviruses, the health chief said.
Dr Lo said that an average of 850 to 900 people had sought treatment at the public hospital’s emergency department every day over the past week, a slight decrease from September and October.
Day hospital
Meanwhile, Dr Lo also underlined that the government is drafting a bill enabling the establishment of a new type of medical institution, tentatively known as “day hospital” whose service level ranges between a hospital and a clinic.
Dr Lo said he did not expect his bureau to be able to complete drafting the bill and then submit it to the government’s top advisory Executive Council for review before the end of the first half of next year.
The health chief noted that the government’s proposed establishment of day hospitals aims to promote the development of the city’s health sector in compliance with its ongoing economic diversification drive.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U talks to reporters on the Nape waterfront on the sidelines of yesterday’s charity event “Walk for a Million”.
– Photo: GCS
