The government's 10th round of facemask sales will start tomorrow, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced today.
According to the programme, local residents and non-resident workers are entitled to buy 10 facemasks at the fixed price of 8 patacas (US$1) every 10 days.
The government-initiated programme also includes facemasks for children aged between three and eight. Parents and guardians are entitled to buy five facemasks for each kid every 10 days.
Observers say that close to 100 percent of pedestrians wear facemasks, which are mandatory to enter public administration buildings, bank branches, casinos and other premises. Public transport passengers and drivers - including taxis - are also required to wear facemasks.
Alvis Lo Iek Long, a senior doctor with the public Conde de S. Januario Hospital Centre, said that 52 million facemasks have been sold since the start of the programme. Macau's population stood at nearly 680,000 at the end of last year - comprising resident and non-resident workers.
Meanwhile, Lo also said at the press conference that the programme's 11th and 12th rounds would certainly go ahead. However, he rhetorically asked whether the programme could continue for good. He noted that the government launched the programme in February to protect public health, adding that "perhaps" it was now the right time to reflect on the need to continue the programme. "Is it that this programme could endlessly continue?", he asked.
The government-sponsored facemasks are available from designated pharmacies, public health centres and community associations.
Facemasks are increasingly also available in the private market at commercial prices.
2 more discharged
Lo also announced that two more of Macau's 45 COVID-19 patients were discharged from the isolation ward of the public hospital today, a 17-year-old local student who had returned from London and a 47-year-old local returnee from the UK. Both were immediately transferred to the Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane for 14 days of isolation and medical observation.
A total of 21 novel coronavirus disease patients remain hospitalised. Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case on January 22. Almost all of the patients have been classified by the Health Bureau as imported cases. Unlike Hong Kong, Macau has been spared a community outbreak.
Macau's anti-COVID-19 measures have been praised by the international press. The measures include strict entry and quarantine rules but no lockdown.
