The Government is optimising preparations for a planned large-scale community treatment centre in the event of a serious COVID-19 outbreak in Macao. Once preparation work is completed, the relevant authorities will conduct a drill at the venue.
The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ms Ao Ieong U, told reporters on 27 March that the Government was reviewing support facilities at the complex – such as washrooms, sewage and grey water systems, and the supply of water and electricity – and purchasing the necessary additional equipment and medicines.
The Government had previously published a contingency plan, detailing Macao’s response in accordance with different levels of COVID-19 transmission risk within the local community.
The future large-scale community treatment centre was designated by the Government to accommodate people with mild symptoms for COVID-19. The venue would be divided into separate zones, including an isolation zone and zones respectively for the elderly and children. Patients with severe symptoms for COVID-19 would be treated in either the Coloane Public Health Clinical Centre or at Conde S. JanuárioHospital, said the Secretary.
Ms Ao Ieong said additionally that the city’s health authorities had already acquired in 2021 materials for the large-scale community treatment centre, in order to ensure emergency use in case of need. The Government was currently analysing the price for acquiring other materials that would eventually be required for the centre. A number of public departments had been assigned with different duties and were working closely toward this common goal.
Regarding human resources, the Government had drafted a list of healthcare professionals that would be needed in the event of a serious COVID-19 outbreak in Macao. Such list would be submitted to the Central Government and other relevant entities in the mainland, said Ms Ao Ieong. Such effort was to ensure that any assistance needed would be provided in a timely manner to Macao in the event of an emergency situation.
The Secretary also talked about medicine for COVID-19 treatment, saying that one sourced medication had already arrived in Macao. There were two other intravenous medicines and one oral medication being shipped to Macao. The Government had also ordered a mRNA-based vaccine for children, she added.
When speaking to reporters, the Secretary said Macao and Zhuhai recently had reviewed boundary-crossing measures between the two cities. The two places had agreed that further discussions would be held once Zhuhai had not reported any new local COVID-19 case for seven consecutive days.
Ms Ao Ieong said hotel rooms for medical observation in Macao were in scarce supply. The Government was reviewing the operating conditions of local hotels and evaluating the possibility of increasing the number of quarantine hotels in case a greater number of Macao ID holders wished to return to the city from high-risk areas for COVID-19 infection.
The Government had previously assisted an aggregate of 91 Macao ID holders – divided in two batches – return to the city from Hong Kong. Currently, there were fewer than 10 Macao students in Hong Kong wanting to return to the city. The Government was planning to help these students return to Macao by the end of March, Ms Ao Ieong added.
In addition, the Government was also mulling the possibility of making full-vaccination mandatory for those intending to take part in local large-scale sporting events and interschool sports activities. That was with the aim of supporting the city’s epidemic prevention and control effort while ensuring successful organisation of sporting events. Such policy was in line with international practices for holding sporting events and took reference from the successful experience from the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and the National Games of China.