The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ms Ao Ieong U, speaks to reporters.
The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ms Ao Ieong U, has urged members of the Macao public to avoid any unnecessary indoor activities such as banquets.
In order to meet the public’s expectations regarding Lunar New Year celebrations and ensure the vitality of the local economy, outdoor large-scale events were still currently allowed in Macao, on the premises that the epidemic-related situation in the city remained well-controlled, and that these events strictly followed the existing anti-epidemic measures, stated Ms Ao Ieong.
Speaking to reporters after a Legislative Assembly committee meeting, the Secretary also talked about the Government’s initiative to implement a ‘venue code’ function under the Macao Health Code mobile application.
A specific ‘venue code’ to be displayed in each food and beverage establishment in Macao and in each of the city’s restaurants should be ready within January, said Ms Ao Ieong.
The venue code is a new function of the Macao Health Code mobile application. It enables the public to record their visits to public places with an aim to assess their respective risk of exposure to any COVID-19 patient or to people that have been classified as close contacts of any confirmed case.
There are two methods for members of the public to record their visits via the Macao Health Code mobile application. People may either scan the specific venue code displayed in a particular establishment or present their Macao Health Code so that staff at the venue may record their visit.
Macao had to enhance its preparedness and response mechanism in view of the serious situation worldwide in relation to new COVID-19 variants, stressed the Secretary.
Currently, on average, some 10,000 venue-code records are registered daily when entering Government service venues. The Government was mulling to make such registry mandatory once members of the public got familiar with the use of the venue code function within the Macao Health Code mobile application, said Ms Ao Ieong.