The Macau Health Bureau (SSM) confirmed today the city's sixth novel coronavirus case.
According to an SSM statement, the sixth patient is a 15-year-old boy from Wuhan. He is the son of Macau's fourth Wuhan virus patient, a 39-year-old woman. The bureau pointed out that the boy, who has been moved to the public hospital's isolation ward, did not have a fever or cough when the statement was issued late last night.
The boy's father and younger brother have tested negative to the novel coronavirus, the statement said. All the 6 patients are tourists from Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province.
A string of measures to restrict the entry and stay of residents from Hubei province in Macau took effect today. The operating hours of Macau's main border checkpoint, the Barrier Gate, have been shorted to between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. from today. Previously, the checkpoint, one of the busiest in the world, was open daily from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. However, other border checkpoints' operating hours have not bee changed. Some of the border points operate 24/7.
Macau has a population of around 670,00 and an average of 100,000 visitor arrivals a day. The population includes some 190,000 imported workers, about two thirds of them from mainland China.
Macau's five cinemas have been closed in the wake of the Wuhan virus threat. The government has cancelled all Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday activities. However, the tradition of setting off firecrackers in two designated areas has been allowed to continue. Macau's casinos have continued their around-the-clock operations but casino staff are required to wear facemasks. The government has said that if the coronavirus situation deteriorates it would not exclude the possibility of closing the city's about three dozen casinos. Mainlanders make up three quarters of gamblers in Macau, according to casino industry sources.
