Addressing yesterday evening’s daily press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, Lo Iek Long, a clinical director of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, announced the discharge of the ninth COVID-19 patient – who also happened to be the ninth confirmed case in Macau – yesterday afternoon, a 29-year-old local woman.
Yesterday’s discharged patient is the second local discharged patient. Now only one patient – a 64-year-old local woman who is the aunt of the 29-year-old woman – is still under treatment in the public hospital’s isolation ward.
The 64-year-old woman is Macau’s eighth confirmed case.
Macau’s last two COVID-19 cases, the 9th and 10th cases, were confirmed on February 4. The 10 cases comprise seven tourists from Wuhan and three locals. All the seven patients from Wuhan have previously been discharged and have returned to the mainland.
The first local discharged patient – a 56-year-old local man working as a casino shuttle bus driver – was discharged late last week. The 56-year-old man is Macau’s 10th and so far last confirmed novel coronavirus case.
Lo said yesterday that the 29-year-old woman was immediately transferred to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane for 14-days medical surveillance.
According to Lo, the patient, who works as a florist supervisor in a local hotel, went to Zhuhai for a concert on January 19. She was in contact with Macau’s eighth confirmed patient – her aunt – for three hours on January 24.
According to Lo, the patient came down with a fever and cough on January 25, before she went to the public hospital’s emergency department to seek treatment on February 4.Aircraft departs at 9:30 a.m. Saturday
During yesterday’s press conference at the bureau adjacent to the public hospital, Health Bureau Director Lei Chin Ion announced further details on the local government’s plan to airlift out Macau residents stranded in Hubei province.
Lei said that the charter plane – an Air Macau jet – is slated to depart for Wuhan at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday to bring back Macau residents who are in or near Wuhan, and who are in other locales in the province but face special circumstances, adding that the charter flight will have 60 passengers. Lei did not elaborate on the special circumstances.
Health Bureau (SSM) Director Lei Chin Ion (centre), Inês Chan Lou, who heads the Macau Government Tourism Office’s (MGTO) Licensing and Inspection Department (right), and Lo Iek Long, one of the three clinical directors of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, pose during yesterday’s press conference at the bureau about the city’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. Photo: GCS
Lei said that the local government is aiming for the charter plane to return to Macau at around 4 p.m., but it would depend on the real situation after the plane arrives in Wuhan. Hubei lies nearly 1,000 kilometres north of Macau. The flight takes about 1 1/2 hours.
Lei reaffirmed that only those who do not show any COVID-19 symptoms (no fever, no cough and no other respiratory symptoms) and have not been in close contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients within 14 days will be allowed to take their place in the airlift. Those who have been to a hospital in the province will not be allowed to take their place on the aircraft either, Lei said.
According to Lei, children aged below five without accompanying adults will also not be allowed to board the charter plane.
Lei said that based on the latest figure on Monday night, 60 Macau residents in the province meet the criteria to get on the flight with the intention of being airlifted out.
According to Lei, the 60 Macau residents have already submitted to the Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) their health declarations and written agreements indicating that they understand all the requirements they will need to follow when boarding the charter plane.
Lei said that the local government was grateful for the strong support of the central government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council and the Hubei authorities for the airlift.
60 passengers from various cities
According to Lei, the 60 Macau residents comprise 23 in Wuhan, 7 in Xiaogan and Huanggang each, 4 in Xianning, Suizhou, Xiangyang, Enshi and Yichang each, and 1 in Huangshi, Shiyan and Jingzhou each.
According to Lei, the Health Bureau will have two doctors and three nurses on Saturday’s flight, while the Tourism Crisis Management Office will have two members on the plane. Air Macau will have seven crew members on board, two of them pilots.
In addition to the Health Bureau and the Tourism Crisis Management Office, various local government entities will also take part in the airlift operation, according to Lei.
The Health Bureau is tasked with formulating and implementing epidemic prevention and quarantine measures, while the Tourism Crisis Management Office is tasked with organising the airlift operation, including liaisons with Macau residents in the province, Lei said. The Public Security Police (PSP) are tasked with immigration formalities, while the Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) will formulate a plan for air traffic control for when the plane departs from and returns to Macau, according to Lei.
Local airport command centre
Lei said that a cross-departmental command centre will be set up at the local airport on Saturday. Local airport operator CAM, the Macau Customs Service, Government Information Bureau (GCS) and Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) will also take part in the airlift, Lei said.
According to Lei, the passengers must wear clean clothes and carry out basic disinfection of their luggage before travelling to the airport in Wuhan.
Lei said during the daily press conference on Sunday that the passengers will not be allowed any hand luggage and their checked-in luggage should be “simple”. All checked-in luggage will be disinfected by the authorities so that the passengers will not be allowed to put any food, including souvenir food, into their luggage.
Body temperature to be checked at least thrice
Lei said yesterday that before boarding the plane, his bureau’s doctors and nurses will check the passengers’ temperatures at least three times at certain intervals. His bureau’s medical staff members will distribute a facemask, alcohol gel and a hygiene kit to each passenger before they board the plane.
Lei said that all passengers must wear facemasks and full-body protective clothing. They will not be allowed to use the toilet during the flight, and therefore those in need will be provided with a nappy, Lei said.
Lei said that upon arrival in Macau those without symptoms will immediately be taken to the bureau’s Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane for 14-days quarantine. The vehicles transporting the passengers to the quarantine facility in Coloane will stop right next to the charter plane at the local airport, Lei said, adding that their luggage will be taken separately to the quarantine building later so that the passengers will not need to wait to pick up their luggage.
Upon arrival in Macau those with symptoms will be taken to the public hospital for medical examination and isolation by the Fire Services Bureau’s (CB) ambulances, Lei said.
After being taken to Coloane’s Public Health Clinical Centre for quarantine, Lei said that the passengers will undergo a COVID-19 test the next day. If a resident tests negative in the first test, he or she will undergo another test midway throughout the 14-day quarantine period, before undergoing a final test shortly before the quarantine period ends – three tests in total – so as to ensure that they are not infected with the novel coronavirus before they can be released from quarantine.
1/3 of passengers are minors
During yesterday’s press conference, Inês Chan Lou, who heads the Licensing and Inspection Department of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), said that the 60 residents slated to be airlifted out on Saturday come from 33 families. The 60 residents include 19 minors, those aged below 18, nearly one third of the total number of passengers.
The 19 minors comprise six under the age of five, seven aged between 5 and 11, and six aged between 12 and 17, Chan said.
Chan pointed out that the six passengers aged below five on the plane will travel with their parents or legal guardians.
According to Chan, three families involved in the charter flight only have children on the plane without accompanying adults, all of them aged at least five, and they will be picked up by their parents or legal guardians in Macau upon arrival in Macau. According to Chan, children aged below 12 have to be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians when they undergo the 14-day quarantine in the Public Health Clinical Centre.
Chan said that two senior citizens, aged 75 and 77, are also among the 60 passengers.
