Armed gang steals toilet rolls in panic-buying HK

HONG KONG – A gang of knife-wielding men jumped a delivery driver in Hong Kong and stole hundreds of toilet rolls, police said yesterday, in a city wracked by shortages caused by novel coronavirus-induced panic-buying.Toilet rolls have become hot property in the densely packed business hub, despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak.Supermarkets have found themselves unable to restock quickly enough, leading to sometimes lengthy queues and shelves

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Snapshots of daily life as city fights COVID-19

People queue up outside a bank in the city centre.Residents queue outside the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) in Nam Van as the government has resumed its basic services, requiring the public to present a health declaration via a QR code upon entering public administration premises.A QR code for residents to scan to fill out a digital health declaration form is on display outside the General Post Office.Shoppers crowd a clothing shop in the city centre.A “strong warning” by the government

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Mainland gambler cheated out of HK$2.2 million: PJ

A casino gambler from the mainland told the Judiciary Police (PJ) early this month that he had been cheated out of HK$2.2 million (US$275,000) in winnings by a fellow mainlander, PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man said during a press conference yesterday.According to Chan, the victim had transferred 500,000 yuan from his mainland bank account to the account of a 58-year-old mainland businessman surnamed Yu as a security deposit on January 25, so that Yu would take the victim to gamble in local

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Coach drivers ask Ho for help over COVID-19 crisis

A group of coach drivers asked Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng yesterday to tide them over during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Representatives of the group handed a petition letter to an official outside Government Headquarters, accompanied by veteran lawmaker-cum-unionist José Maria Pereira Coutinho, who heads the Macau Civil Servants Association (ATFPM) but often also defends the interests of workers from the private sector.According to a statement sent to The Macau Post Daily, the

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Local man claims he’s from Wuhan after shoplifting

When a suspected supermarket thief was caught by an off-duty senior police officer and a security guard on Saturday, he yelled, “I am from Wuhan” and “I am mentally ill”, after which he was taken to hospital to be tested for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Choi Iok Kin said during a press conference yesterday. The suspect is a 30-year-old unemployed local resident surnamed Chao. On Saturday around noon, Chao went shopping in a supermarket in

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Govt imposes 14-day quarantine on migrant workers

The Macau government announced today that migrant workers who have been in mainland China two weeks before their intended entry into Macau need to go into 14 days of quarantine first. The measure was announced by senior officials during the daily press conference by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre about the COVID-19 epidemic. The officials said non-resident workers (as migrant workers are officially known in Macau) arriving from Zhuhai must first go into 14 days of

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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Casinos can reopen on Thursday, given up to 30 days to return to full operation

Addressing yesterday’s daily press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong announced that the city’s casinos can reopen for business on Thursday, following their 15-day government-ordered closure to reduce the risk of the spread of the highly infectious disease.Lei said that casinos that are not “fully prepared” to relaunch their operations right away can apply to defer reopening their doors for up to 30 days.

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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Judiciary Police warn of ‘Tripping Jump Challenge’

Online videos of a dangerous prank called “Tripping Jump Challenge” are circulating around the world, particularly by teenagers on social networking platforms, the Judiciary Police (PJ) warned in a statement at the weekend, urging Macau’s youngsters not to mimic the prank.According to Saturday’s statement, the prank, in which two people get the person in the centre to jump, the two on either side of the victim then kick the legs of the person in the middle causing the “victim” to

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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Solidarity, not stigma: editorial

I fully agree with World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that concerning the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic “this is the time for solidarity, not stigma”. Significantly, Tedros (Ethiopian people’s names end in a patronymic rather than a family name the same as Chinese names) made the remarks during a visit to Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where he met with President Felix Tshisekedi to brief

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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Melco, Gung Luen set up fund for workers affected by COVID-19 epidemic

Melco Resorts & Entertainment has donated five million patacas for the setting up of a special aid fund in collaboration with the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM) to help workers with unstable incomes and are being affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the gaming operator said in a statement yesterday.The federation is generally known as Gung Luen, its name in Cantonese.According to the statement, the initiative is an addition to the gaming company’s HK$20 million donation to Wuhan and

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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Resumption of public administration’s ‘basic’ services doesn’t mean return to normal: doctor

Addressing yesterday’s daily press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, Lo Iek Long, clinical director of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, said that today’s resumption of the public administration’s “basic” services does not mean that residents could gradually resume their normal lifestyles, pointing out that the government has decided to resume its “basic” services as their continued suspension would “seriously” affect some

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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Indonesian consulate hands out 5,000 facemasks in Macau

The Hong Kong-based Indonesian Consulate-General has handed out 5,000 facemasks to Indonesian migrant workers in Macau, public broadcaster TDM-Radio Macau reported today. According to the report, each Indonesian national was entitled to five facemasks, while each association of Indonesian migrant workers received 500 facemasks free of charge. The consulate-general is simultaneously accredited to Macau. The report said that the consulate began to hand out the facemasks in Macau

February 16, 2020 | BY admin

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No info on Anonymous cyberattack: police

The Judiciary Police (PJ)  said today that a cyberattack by Anonymous, which had been announced by the global hacktivist group earlier this month, "apparently" did not take place as slated on Thursday. "We did not receive any information about damage caused by the cyber pirates group Anonymous," a PJ spokesperson told public broadcaster TDM-Radio Macau, adding, "apparently it [the attack] didn't take place."A PJ statement early last week had warned the

February 16, 2020 | BY admin

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Kun Iam Treasury Opening Festival cancelled over COVID-19 threat

The Macau government announced today that the annual Kun Iam Treasury Opening Festival, which traditionally takes place on the 26th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, has been cancelled due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) menace. The festival, which usually attracts huge crowds of the faithful, was scheduled to be held in the night from next Tuesday to Wednesday at eight temples. Kun Iam is the local spelling of the name of the Buddhist divinity known as Guanyin elsewhere. Due to

February 15, 2020 | BY admin

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