Up to 70 pct of population infected with COVID, Secretary Ao Ieong estimates

Some 250,000 people declared they were infected with COVID-19 as of January 4, but authorities estimate that the share of the local population who actually contracted the virus is likely to have reached 60 to 70 per cent, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said.

This means that 400,000 to 470,000 people were probably infected over the past weeks.

Ao Ieong said in a press conference on Thursday that authorities cannot know for sure the exact number of people who were infected as many citizens did not declare it in the Health Bureau’s dedicated platform .

Some 70 per cent of the city’s health professionals caught COVID-19. The same percentage affected the teaching staff, while 50 to 60 per cent of students were infected, the secretary indicated. 

According to the status of people who declared themselves to be infected, about 40 per cent recovered within five days and after seven days of infection, 73 per cent recovered, the Novel Coronavirus Co-ordination and Response Centre said in a statement.

Since the beginning of the transition period, December 8, until the present moment, in total, around 2,000 people have been admitted to the isolation and treatment facilities of the Health Bureau.

Epidemiological surveillance shows that the number of infections in Macau started to rise on December 14 and reached its peak around December 22. After that, the number of people who were infected started to slowly go down, and health authorities said, adding that “compared to major outbreaks in other countries or regions, the peak period in Macau was relatively short.”

The Centre also said that number of individuals who died from COVID-19 between December 13 and January 4 was 57, 90 per cent of whom were over 70 years old and 60 per cent over 80. Half of those who were declared to have died due to COVID-19 infection were not vaccinated.

However, during the same press conference, Health Bureau Director Alvis Lo stated that there were approximately 600 deaths due to various causes last month, which is significantly higher than the 230 monthly average recorded in the previous two winters. According to Alvis Lo, many of those who died in December 2022 were suffering from chronic diseases, which, along with COVID-19 infections, contributed to the increase in the number of people who died.