2 cases imported from Portugal, 1 from the UK
The Macau government announced on Saturday three more confirmed COVID-19 cases, which brought the total to 37.
According to a statement by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Control Centre, the 36th and 37th cases have been classified as imported.
The 36th patient is a 21-year-old male local resident who returned from Portugal. On March 13, he took Emirates Airways flight EK194 (seat 40A) from Lisbon with a stopover in Dubai where he took flight EK380 (seat 46D) to Hong Kong. He arrived in Macau on March 15 where he was told to go into 14 days of home quarantine, based on the Health Bureau’s regulations at that time. On March 17, he was taken by ambulance to the special emergency department of the public Conde de S. Januário Hospital Centre after coming down with a fever and headache. However, he tested negative twice for the novel coronavirus disease, after which he continued his home quarantine. He underwent a nucleic acid test on Friday which confirmed his COVID-19 infection on Saturday.
The 37th patient is a 32-year-old local male resident holding Portuguese nationality, the fiancé of Macau’s 11th patient, a South Korean flight attendant. Both visited Portugal and took a flight from Porto on March 12 via Dubai to Hong Kong. They arrived in Macau by bus via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge on March 14. He tested negative for COVID-19 on March 16 and 18. However, a follow-up test confirmed his novel coronavirus infection on Saturday.
Both patients are undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the public hospital. The statement described each patient’s condition as “normal.”
35th case
Meanwhile, the government announced earlier on Saturday the city’s 35th novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) case, a 19-year-old local resident who returned from the UK via Hong Kong on Friday.
According to a statement by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, the patient took Virgin Atlantic Airways flight VS206 (seat 21G) from London to Hong Kong on Friday. He took a special bus arranged by the Macau Tourism Crisis Management Office to Macau directly from the airport to Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. Upon arrival at the Macau checkpoint of the bridge, Health Bureau (SSM) staff found that he had a fever, after which he was immediately taken by ambulance to the special emergency department of the public Conde de S. Januário Hospital Centre. There, he was diagnosed with pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on Saturday.
According to the statement, the patient’s condition was “normal”. He is undergoing treatment in the public hospital’s isolation ward.
