Macau visitor arrivals drop 99.7 pct in April

Macau's number of visitor arrivals dropped 99.7 percent year-on-year to 11,041 last month, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today. Month-on-month, the figure was down by 94.8 percent. Both overnight visitors (6,383) and same-day visitors (4,658) recorded year-on-year declines of over 99.0 percent, the statement pointed out. Due to COVID-19 quarantine measures, overnight visitors stayed significantly longer (+18.9 days), at 21.1 days on average, which led to a

May 21, 2020 | BY admin

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‘Happy zeros’ show successful fight against COVID-19 – Editorial

Health Bureau (SSM) Director Lei Chin Ion was a bearer of glad tidings this week when he announced on Tuesday what I may call Macau’s “happy zeros” concerning the local fight against COVID-19.  Lei noted that Macau has brought the number of novel coronavirus patients down from 45 to zero and also has been able to keep the number of infected healthcare workers at zero. Most importantly, the number of COVID-19 deaths has remained at zero since the first case was confirmed in Macau

May 21, 2020 | BY admin

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Facemask sales to continue for ‘period of time’

Addressing yesterday’s daily press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, Alvis Lo Iek Long, a clinical director of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, said that the government now expects its facemask purchase scheme to continue for “a period of time”.Lo said that the government would constantly evaluate whether its facemask purchase scheme should continue based on a number of factors, such as the development of the COVID-19 epidemic in Macau

May 21, 2020 | BY admin

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Police disallow June 4 vigil over COVID-19 concerns, activists vow to appeal

Macau’s Public Security Police (PSP) have rejected activists’ request to hold a June 4 vigil due to “the current circumstances,” the Portuguese-language radio channel of public broadcaster TDM reported yesterday.  Citing a PSP source, the government continues to request the public to avoid gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, irrespective of the fact that Macau has not confirmed a new novel coronavirus disease case for 42 days and the last of Macau’s 45 COVID-19 patients

May 21, 2020 | BY admin

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Man borrows consumption card to ‘sell’ it with his own card for gambling: police

A local man borrowed a government-issued consumption subsidy smartcard – popularly known as “green card” – from his septuagenarian neighbour and “sold” it together with his own card for a total of 4,800 patacas which he then gambled away, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Choi Iok Kin said in a regular press conference yesterday.The suspect surnamed Leong who is in his forties told the police that he is unemployed. The victim reported to the police on May 7 that he was

May 21, 2020 | BY admin

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IC’s 8th Subsidy Programme for Fashion Design on Sample Making starts

The application process for the “8th Subsidy Programme for Fashion Design on Sample Making” kicked off yesterday, according to a statement by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC).The application period runs until 5 p.m. on August 27, the statement noted.According to the statement, a maximum of eight individuals or groups will be granted subsides of up to 170,000 patacas for the sample production and promotional materials of selected entries.The bureau has been promoting the programme since

May 21, 2020 | BY admin

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UM joins 15 institutions across globe to study psychosocial effects of COVID-19

The University of Macau (UM) has joined 15 other universities and medical institutions around the world to conduct an international study of the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the public university said in a statement yesterday.Participants in the survey will be entered into a lucky draw for a chance to win 50 euros (439 patacas), the statement underlined.The longitudinal research project will be conducted between this month and May next year through an online survey, the

May 21, 2020 | BY admin

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Fisherman’s Wharf street art to do free sketch portraits

MAS artists show their work after trip to PortugalA street art event organised by the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf (MFW) will be held on Saturday for the public to experience Macau’s rich culture and have fun at the same time.The waterfront entertainment, shopping and dining complex provides artistic and leisure activities for both adults and kids. On Saturday, visitors can have portrait sketches done by members of the Macau Artist Society (MAS) for free, according to information provided

May 21, 2020 | BY admin

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‘Two sessions’ herald rebound of economy

Commentary by Dan SteinbockBEIJING – International interest in the annual sessions of China’s top legislative and political advisory bodies (National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee), which start today, is exceptionally high.Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the two sessions will be held under strict anti-epidemic measures, including social distancing, and will be significantly shorter and rely more on videoconferences.

May 21, 2020 | BY admin

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Snapshots of daily life as city fights COVID-19

Workers are having a chat while taking a rest at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf.A couple prepares to have their wedding photos taken with a crew at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf. Photos taken yesterday by Camy Tam  

May 21, 2020 | BY admin

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Global COVID-19 cases top 5 million: report

The world's number of confirmed novel coronavirus disease cases exceeds five million, the real-time statistics reference website worldmeters.info announced this afternoon. At 6:25 p.m. the number of cases around the world stood at 5,004,129, according to the website. The number of COVID-19 deaths amounted to 325,239, or 6.49 percent of the total number of confirmed cases. The number of recovered cases stood at 1.97 million patients. Of the 2.7 million active cases, 2.66 million

May 20, 2020 | BY admin

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Police disallow June 4 vigil over COVID-19 concerns: report

Macau's Public Security Police (PSP) have rejected activists' request to hold a June 4 vigil due to "the current circumstances," the Portuguese-language radio channel of public broadcaster TDM reported today. Citing a PSP source, the government continues to request the public to avoid gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, irrespective of the fact that Macau has not confirmed a new novel coronavirus disease case for 42 days (as of today) and the last of Macau's 45 COVID-19

May 20, 2020 | BY admin

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Last of Macau’s 45 COVID-19 patients discharged

Addressing yesterday’s daily press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, Health Bureau (SSM) Director Lei Chin Ion announced that the last of Macau’s 45 COVID-19 patients, a 15-year-old local girl studying in the United Kingdom, has been discharged after 56 days of isolation treatment.“Now all the 35 patients in the second wave [of COVID-19], which began on March 15, have been discharged so Macau has now been cleared of confirmed [COVID-19] cases again,” the

May 20, 2020 | BY admin

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HK burglar steals 12,000 patacas from 2 restaurants: police

A Hong Kong man was arrested for stealing 12,000 patacas in total from two restaurants in the city centre after midnight on Monday and Friday last week respectively, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference yesterday.The 47-year-old suspect surnamed Chu told the police he is unemployed.According to Leng, Chu entered Macau in early March and subsequently rented a flat in Rua das Estalagens. The police received burglary reports from two restaurants last

May 20, 2020 | BY admin

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