Macau opens 3rd 'quarantine hotel'

The Macau government opened today the city's third "quarantine hotel", the 326-room Regency Art Hotel in Taipa. According to a statement by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Regency Art "is the third hotel designated [by the government] as a venue for medical observation starting from today."On Tuesday, the government announced the opening of the city's second COVID-19 medical observation hotel, the 300-room Golden Crown China Hotel opposite the Macau

March 19, 2020 | BY admin

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Govt bans foreign non-resident workers from entering Macau

4 more imported cases raise COVID-19 total to 17 in 2 days The local government last night ordered a blanket ban on the entry of foreign non-resident workers into Macau, starting from 00:00 today, with the aim of stemming the further spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Macau.A statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) last night said that the entry ban aimed to prevent imported COVID-19 cases and protect Macau residents’ health, pointing out that the

March 19, 2020 | BY admin

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COVID0-19 outbreak to impact EU-US-China ties

Commentary by Fraser Cameron*The novel coronavirus outbreak will have a major impact on relations between the European Union, China and the United States, the world’s three biggest economic actors responsible for more than 50 percent of global wealth.Some US politicians have sought to blame China and the EU for failing to tackle the outbreak, thereby showing zero understanding of the need for global cooperation to combat the worst pandemic in decades. Trust in US leadership is certain to take

March 19, 2020 | BY admin

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Over 350,000 register for consumption smartcard on 1st day: AMCM

Registration for the government-issued consumption smartcard kicked off at 9 a.m. yesterday and by 6 p.m. 351,841 residents had registered, marking a “smooth” first day of registration, according to a statement by the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM).The registration period for the 3,000-pataca consumption smartcard started yesterday and will last until April 8, the statement noted.Registration can be done on-line at the AMCM official website at www.amcm.gov.mo, as well as off-line at

March 19, 2020 | BY admin

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Man chases chess board ‘lender’ with 2 cleavers over 20 pataca rental fee

A man, who was told he had to pay 20 patacas to play Chinese chess in Areia Preta’s Triangle Garden as a “chess board rental fee”, got into a quarrel, and took two cleavers from his motorcycle parked nearby and chased after the “lender”, but was stopped by police officers before he could injure anyone, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Ho Ka Kit said during Tuesday’s regular press conference.The suspect is a 57-year-old local resident, surnamed Lai, and works as a

March 19, 2020 | BY admin

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Police bust 2 drug trafficking, smuggling cases in 1 day

The Judiciary Police (PJ) busted two drug trafficking cases on Tuesday, involving four Hong Kong men and a woman selling cocaine in Macau’s night entertainment venues, and a local woman smuggling drugs through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB), PJ spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said during a special press conference yesterday.In the first case, all the suspects are Hong Kong residents – a 21-year-old woman surnamed Chan, and two 21-year-old men surnamed Kwok and Lee, who are all unemployed,

March 19, 2020 | BY admin

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Ideological narcissism causes heavy losses to West amid COVID-19 outbreak

Commentary by Tom Fowdy*When COVID-19 emerged in China, Western media did not think twice about using the epidemic to launch a full-scale assault on the country’s political system and governance. Throughout January and February, commentary framed events in Hubei province as an exclusive failure of China and its leadership, preaching the virtues of liberal political systems which they implicitly assumed would not suffer from such a catastrophe.BBC China correspondent Stephen McDonnell, a

March 19, 2020 | BY admin

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Snapshots of daily life as city fights COVID-19

Flight attendants head to the departure terminal at Macau International Airport.Staff members assist a man (centre) in delivering personal belongings to those who are undergoing quarantine at the Golden Crown China Hotel in Taipa.A fruit vendor, wearing a facemask, checks her products while the stalls next to hers are closed.People, all but one wearing a facemask, sit around the fountain and under a tree to enjoy the sun in the afternoon near the Cathedral in the city centre.Photos taken

March 19, 2020 | BY admin

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BNU donates 100,000 patacas to Macau Women's General Association

Local Portuguese bank BNU today donated 100,000 (US$12,500) to The Women's General Association of Macau (commonly known as Fu Luen, its name in Cantonese) in response to the COVID-19 crisis.  According to a statement by Macau's oldest existing bank, the donation presentation ceremony was held at the BNU headquarters in the city centre today in the presence of BNU Executive Directors Sam Tou and Ieong Kim Man, Fu Luen President Ho Teng Iat and other senior representatives from the bank and

March 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau's higher education to resume classes from April 1

Macau's Higher Education Bureau (DSES) said in a statement today that six of the city's 10 tertiary education institutions will gradually resume on-campus classes on April 1. According to the statement, the Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM), Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM), Public Security Forces Academy, University of Saint Joseph (USJ), Kiang Wu Nursing College and Macau Institute of Management will gradually restart classes on April 1. Macau's primary, secondary and

March 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Local student returning from UK classified as 'suspected' COVID-19 case

Macau's Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre said in a statement last night that a suspected case of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been detected. According to the statement, the patient is a 19-year-old Macau resident studying in the United Kingdom.The student left the UK en route to Macau via Hong Kong on Monday. Upon arrival in Macau, Health Bureau (SSM) ordered her to go into home quarantine for 14 days. Today, samples taken from the

March 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau bans foreign non-resident workers' entry

Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng ordered today a blanket ban on the entry of foreign non-resident workers into Macau, starting at 0:00 tomorrow. The measure was published in the Official Gazette (BO) tonight. Article 1 of the executive order states that the entry of foreign non-resident workers is prohibited from 0:00 on March 19. According to the order, the aim of the entry ban is to stem the further spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Macau. Based on the

March 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau confirms Filipino as 15th COVID-19 case

Macau's Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced during its daily press conference this afternoon that the city's 15th novel coronavirus (COVID-19) case, a 31-year-old Filipino hotel waiter, the second case confirmed today. According to the press conference, the case as been classified as "imported."The patient's last working day in Macau was on January 26. He visited his family in the Philippines between January 27 and March 15, according to the statement. He

March 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau confirms 14th novel coronavirus case, imported case from Indonesia

Macau's Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre confirmed today the city's 14th novel coronavirus (COVID-19) case, a 42-year-old woman from Indonesia. The patient is a relative of a local non-resident worker. According to a statement by the centre, the woman departed from Jakarta yesterday on Hong Kong-bound Cathay Pacific flight CX718 in seat No. 47F. She arrived in Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. At the Macau checkpoint of the bridge Health Bureau (SSM)

March 18, 2020 | BY admin

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