Phased reopening of Macau's schools to start on April 13

After their government-order shutdown over the novel coronavirus epidemic over a month ago, Macau's schools will gradually reopen from April 13, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) announced today.According to the announcement, the phased restart will run from April 13 to May 4. On April 13, it will be back to school for Form 4 to Form 6 pupils. However, Form 6 pupils preparing for their university admission exams can already return to school on March 30. Form 1 to Form 3 pupils

March 13, 2020 | BY admin

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Man takes deposit for flat sale without telling wife: police

A 66-year-old local man put his flat up for sale without telling his wife and received a HK$100,000 deposit from a buyer, who realised that he had been cheated after the deal couldn’t go through and he didn’t get his money back, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during the regular press conference on Tuesday.According to Choi, a local man in his 50s wanted to buy a flat worth HK$2.75 million in Rua do Tarrafeiro through a property agent on January 19. The man paid a

March 13, 2020 | BY admin

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Excessive preservatives found in local snack: IAM

A dried fish snack sold locally was found to contain excessive preservatives – sorbic acid which exceeded the legally permitted maximum amount in line with local health standards, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) announced in a statement yesterday.The bureau has ordered shops to stop selling the snacks that weigh 100 grammes and expire on January 10 next year. It urged consumers not to eat them, the statement said, which did not elaborate on the health standards involved.According to the

March 13, 2020 | BY admin

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China lends hand to Europe in fight against COVID-19

ZAGREB – As China sees the light at the end of the tunnel in its fight against COVID-19, it is lending a hand to European countries, a number of which had come to China’s assistance at the early stage of the outbreak.A team of nine Chinese health experts left Shanghai for Rome yesterday on a chartered flight, two days after the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Italy topped 10,000. Along with the experts were 31 tons of intensive care and medical protective equipment.Chinese NGOs are

March 13, 2020 | BY admin

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With COVID-19 basically curbed, nation pushes ahead with battle against economic fallout

New Analysis    BEIJING – After securing an upper hand in its all-out confrontation with the novel coronavirus on home turf, China is warily repositioning itself to fight the economic fallouts of the outbreak already declared as a pandemic.In stark contrast to the rapid spread elsewhere in the world, the COVID-19 spread has been basically contained in China, with new risks largely coming from imported cases. The National Health Commission (NHC) said it received reports of 15 new

March 13, 2020 | BY admin

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The Lancet features UM scholar’s articles on mental health care during COVID-19 epidemic

The University of Macau (UM) said a statement yesterday that four articles on mental health care during the current novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic written by its research team led by Prof Xiang Yutao from the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) have been published in the latest editions of British medical journals The Lancet and Lancet Psychiatry.The Lancet is widely considered the oldest and most influential journal in the medical field. Founded by an English surgeon in 1823, The Lancet is

March 13, 2020 | BY admin

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Two worlds apart -- Quiet vs lively

Commentary by Swallow Xu*       Pablo Neruda’s poetic lines, “I like you when you are quiet because it is as though you are absent…”, hit me when I was walking in a dead quiet street at night in a Zhuhai neighbourhood with a lot of tutorial centres, all of which used to keep their doors open so that passers-by could see the schoolchildren inside, doing homework or taking courses in piano, guzheng (Chinese zither), and even chess. Music flew in the air while many

March 13, 2020 | BY admin

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Registrations for consumption e-card to start next week

Cards cannot be used for utility bills, ferry & air tickets, in casinos & banksSecretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, also the spokesman for the government’s top advisory Executive Council, announced yesterday that local residents can register to obtain a 3,000-pataca consumption e-card from next Wednesday to April 8, before they can start to pick up the card between April 14 and April 30, while they will need to use their cards between May 1 and July

March 13, 2020 | BY admin

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Snapshots of daily life as city fights COVID-19

A building entrance in Nam Van is littered with all sorts of rubbish, including a used facemask.A street food vendor wearing a facemask plays on the smartphone in Nam Van.   Photos taken earlier this week by Camy Tam

March 13, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau govt rejects 'baseless' US claims

The Macau government today rejected the "baseless" claims concerning Macau in the 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices issued by the US Department of State this week. In a statement released by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS), the local government expressed its "strong opposition regarding the references to Macau" in the report, adding that the references make claims that are "baseless", are a "product of political bias" and

March 12, 2020 | BY admin

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1,000 metres of illegal fishing nets cleared to ensure fairway safety: DSAMA

Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) officials found scores of illegal fishing nets floating on the surface of the fairway in the Inner Harbour on Tuesday.In order to ensure navigation safety, the bureau immediately contacted the Macau Customs Service to assist in a joint clean up exercise, according to a DSAMA statement yesterday.The DSAMA officials cleared about 1,000 metres of fishing nets, while Customs Service officers were maintaining nearby marine traffic order, the statement noted.The case

March 12, 2020 | BY admin

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Snapshots of daily life as city fights COVID-19

A woman wearing a facemask, a hat and a raincoat, as well as other passengers, wait to get on a Macau-Hong Kong shuttle bus at the Macau side of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.A child wearing a mask takes a look at a fish he caught in the waters near the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal. Photos taken earlier this week by Camy Tam & Monica Leong  

March 12, 2020 | BY admin

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Arrivals from Norway must undergo medical examination from today

The government’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced last night that with effect from midday today all those who have been to Norway within the past 14 days prior to their entry into Macau must undergo a medical examination upon arrival here, considering that the epidemic in the Nordic country is getting more serious.The government has set up two medical examination posts, one at the Macau Forum complex in Zape and the other at the Taipa Ferry Terminal. Border

March 12, 2020 | BY admin

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Local woman, back from Spain, and husband taken to quarantine centre

Addressing yesterday’s daily press conference about the local government’s ongoing fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) threat, Lo Iek Long, a clinical director of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, said that a local woman who had been to Spain were taken to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane on Tuesday for quarantine, after seeking treatment for a fever, while her husband was also transferred to the centre in Coloane because of

March 12, 2020 | BY admin

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