The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, chairs the Government press conference on epidemic control and prevention.
The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, today said the Government has taken a series of measures aimed at preventing and if necessary controlling any possible outbreak of COVID-19 in the community, after the identification of new infection cases. The target was to regain control of the local epidemic-related situation at the earliest opportunity.
The Chief Executive made the remarks today at the Government Headquarters during a press conference regarding the latest measures on epidemic control and prevention. The Secretary for Security, Mr Wong Sio Chak, and the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ms Ao Ieong U, also attended the press conference.
The Government had enacted immediately its district- and risk-specific epidemic prevention plan, after receiving notice on 3 August from the Zhuhai health authorities regarding two Macao residents that had tested ‘positive’ for COVID-19 infection, said Mr Ho. Macao had subsequently identified a total of four infection cases: four people from the same family.
Other measures rapidly introduced in response to the latest COVID-19-related developments included: putting Macao under a state of ‘immediate prevention’; activating full operations of the Civil Protection Operations Centre; and closing certain recreational facilities from midnight on 5 August until further notice.
Meanwhile, the Government had consulted a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Mr Zhong Nanshan, who is also head of the National Health Commission's high-level expert team regarding COVID-19, for guidance on epidemic control. The next step was to arrange serological testing for those who had been put under medical observation due to their own prior exposure to the now-identified Macao patients, said Mr. Ho.
The Government hoped the current conditions regarding the epidemic situation could be controlled within 14 days, Mr Ho said. That would result in the removal of Macao from the mainland’s list of medium- or high-risk areas for COVID-19, according to the national classification mechanism, he added. The 14-day estimate was based on information relating to the likely origin of the Macao cases to one Macao patient having shared the environment aboard a Zhuhai-Xi’an flight with another person who was subsequently confirmed as having COVID-19 infection. If that were the case, then the possibility of a hidden chain for transmission in the Macao community was less likely, Mr Ho said.
When speaking to reporters today, Mr Ho said the Government had taken a great number of steps in response to the newly-identified COVID-19 cases. Such efficiency was thanks to the cooperation and understanding of the Macao public in relation to the Government’s anti-epidemic work since the COVID-19 alert began in 2020.
Mr Ho also mentioned the Government held in March a drill to simulate its district- and risk-specific epidemic prevention plan. Based on that, work relating to identifying and sealing off buildings at risk from COVID-19 transmission, provision of essential necessities to those confined in restricted areas, health quarantine measures, and other work regarding municipal affairs, had been optimised, leading to a fast implementation this time, he added.
The Chief Executive also talked about the errors experienced in the morning by the Macao Health Code online system. Such errors might have been due to introduction of other systems to cope with the launch of an online system for the community-wide nucleic acid testing programme. He apologised to those affected by the incident.
Mr Ho advised the Macao public there was no need to rush online to schedule a nucleic acid test or to visit without appointment any stations used for the testing work. A total of 41 testing stations set up across Macao is running 24 hours a day, until 9am on 7 August.
In addition, the Chief Executive mentioned effort was made to strengthen Guangdong-Macao cooperation on epidemic control and prevention work. A videoconference was held today to report the latest progress on anti-epidemic effort, and exchange views on how to enhance measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
During the videoconference with Vice Governor of Guangdong, Mr Zhang Xin, and the Secretary of the Zhuhai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, Mr Guo Yonghang, the two sides reached consensus on a range of topics. These included: ensuring work relating to community-wide nucleic acid testing in both Macao and Zhuhai; following up on tracing people with close contact with the Macao patients; investigating the source of infection; stopping the spread of the disease; ensuring proper boundary crossing measures; and guaranteeing management of societal affairs.
Macao and Guangdong would devote all-out effort to prevent the virus from spreading, in order to return to normal day-to-day life in both places, said Mr Ho.
