Some 150 residents who have passed by the Nanjing Lukou International Airport since July 14 and are currently in Macau will have to complete a 14-day medical observation, health authorities announced today (Monday).
Health authorities indicated that according to the health code declaration and flight passenger information, they reached a list of people that passed by the airport in the capital of Jiangsu Province – which reported a total of 57 cases over the last week – with their health code changed to yellow and with authorities to contact the people involved to arrange for medical observation.
Conde S. Januario Hospital Clinical Director Tai Wa Hou informed that from 6:00pm to 11:00pm of today, the people involved will need to bring their ticket information, report to the Pac On Ferry Terminal and undergo a nucleic acid test, with their family members to be asked to undergo testing in later stages.
Medical observation hotel fees will be free for local residents who have entered the SAR before 6:00pm on July 21, but non-local residents will need to pay at their own expense.
The people covered will have to undergo three tests in the next seven days, with one day between tests.
Zhuhai today reported an asymptomatic case also related to the recent Covid-19 resurgence in Nanjing, prompting officials to initiate closed management in some areas and start a citywide nucleic acid testing until the end of Tuesday.
The lockdowns cover some areas Xiangzhou district in Zhuhai, but the Gongbei border crossing and Lotus Bridge crossing with Macau are not affected.
Speaking at a pandemic press conference called at the last minute, Health Bureau Director Alvis Lo stated that although no information has yet been received on any local resident who might be direct or indirect contacts with the case confirmed in Zhuhai, residents who passed by the same locations were advised to contact authorities and carry out nucleic acid testing.
Authorities indicated that a 29-year old man took flight CZ5846 from Nanjing Lukou Airport to Zhuhai last July 19, boarding the airport shuttle bus at 4:40 pm to check-in at the Greenery Hotel (達君悅來酒店). He later dined at the Laochuanfang (吉大老川坊) restaurant that night.
He walked to the Everbright International Trade Center to attend a company meeting last Tuesday morning and had dinner with his colleagues at Guizhou Crooked Restaurant (貴州歪菜館聚餐) Restaurant in the evening, after which he returned to the hotel.
After Nanjing announced the outbreak of a local epidemic at the Nanjing Airport last Tuesday night, the man went to the hospital for examination last Wednesday and was then sent to a hotel for centralized isolation and observation
“All locations where this man passed by ere the target of special measures. We know that there is a large flow of people between Macau and Zhuhai, with many non-resident workers, tourists and residents living in Zhuhai, therefore Macau now has a higher risk of a community infection,” Lo stated.
“I call for all Macau residents and non-resident workers, especially those living in Zhuhai or Zhongshan to take special health precautions and follow all pandemic prevention measures”
Residents were advised to take into account the steps taken by the confirmed case in Zhuhai on July 19 and 20, and if they passed by the same areas they should notify authorities.
They will then be required to also complete three tests within seven days, free of charge.
Health officials also again urged residents who have not yet been vaccinated to get the jab, so as to better protect the city from a possible local outbreak.
Dr. Tai Wa Hou noted that although a recent outbreak in Guangdong led to a bump in the daily vaccination rate to about 10,000 people per day, that rate had dropped against the lower levels reported before.
According to the most recent update, a total of 276,654 people in Macau have been vaccinated with at least a dose of either Sinopharm or BioNTech vaccines, about 45 per cent of the local population, of which only 209,171 received the required two doses.
On July 23, the Macau government announced that four individuals who travelled back into Macau were classified as close contacts of a COVID case in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province; however, all four have so far tested negative for COVID.
Of the four Macau close contacts of the COVID case in Zhongshan, three are Macau
residents and one is a non-resident worker, who may have crossed paths with the infected individual in a public transport in Zhongshan.
Two of the individuals are casino employees from Galaxy and Wynn, one works at a university in Macau, and one at an engineering firm.
Two of these individuals are now in quarantine in Macau and others are under medical observation in China, with local authorities also testing another 17 people who had been “close contacts” of the first four contacts, with all results coming back negative.
When asked if local authorities could impose more severe restrictions for movements between Guangdong Province and Macau, Alvis Lo, only noted that the situation didn’t require stricter policies at the moment.
Currently, people crossing the border from Guangdong to Macau are required to provide a valid negative nucleic acid test taken in the previous seven days.
“We always have to balance the measures with the risk to Macau and the impact of the measures, blocking the border would have a great impact on the lives of residents so we have to evaluate the current situation,” Lo added.
