Macau authorities announced another round of nucleic acid tests on the population on Monday, after the Chinese region detected more than a dozen new cases of Covid-19 in the last six days.
“We will carry out, starting tomorrow [terça-feira], a mass test. We will try to finish testing the entire population between seven in the morning and midnight” (between 11 p.m. on Monday and 4 p.m. on Tuesday in Lisbon), said the director of the Macau Health Services ( SSM).
At a press conference, Alvis Lo Iek Long explained that the objective is to finish the test before the arrival of the severe tropical cyclone Nalgae, which is expected to reach the closest point to the city on Wednesday.
Macau’s Meteorological and Geophysical Services (SMG) have already issued the warning signal for tropical storm 1 and said there is a “moderate” probability that signal 8 will be raised on Wednesday night.
The SSM indicated that the Zhuhai authorities detected a positive case of Covid-19 in a 58-year-old man, already vaccinated with three doses, who works in Macau and lives in the neighboring city.
“We don’t really know the route, the source or the connection to the previous cases. It may have a hidden transmission line, which increases the risk of transmission,” Alvis Lo stressed.
Macau’s population, estimated at 677,300 people, must take a rapid antigen test before going to the testing posts on Tuesday, and must also wear a KN95 protective mask, the official said.
Only those who have already taken the nucleic acid test this Monday will be exempt from the round of tests on Tuesday, added the director of the SSM.
“We will be looking at the test results to see if a second or third round of testing will be necessary,” Alvis Lo said.
The New Type of Coronavirus Contingency Center had already announced on Sunday that the entire population of Macau should undergo a rapid covid-19 test, for three consecutive days, to try to “find hidden cases in the community.”
With the exception of the Ilha Verde high school in northern Macau, where the children of a woman who tested positive are studying, the other educational institutions will remain open, Alvis Lo said. “We will try to maintain the normal functioning of society,” he added.
On Wednesday, more than 38,000 people were forced to be tested for Covid-19, after a positive case was detected in a 66-year-old resident, prompting the closure of a building and surrounding streets.
Macau, which follows the zero cases policy imposed by Beijing, faced the worst outbreak of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic in June and July, with the authorities decreeing a partial lockdown.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Chinese special administrative region has recorded six deaths and more than 2,500 cases, including asymptomatic ones, of Covid-19.
Source: TSF
