15th coronavirus case is Filipino worker

A 31-year-old male non-resident worker from the Philippines has become the 15^th confirmed case of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

His infection was confirmed after he had been in Macau for less than one day, during which time he was free to move about in the city.

The blue card holder works in a restaurant in a local hotel.

He had been staying in the Philippines’ capital of Manila from January 27 to March 15, before he decided to make the trip back to Macau. Authorities said that his last day working in the hotel restaurant was January 26.

He took a flight from Hong Kong to the Philippines and then traveled to Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge on March 16 (Monday). He was admitted into Macau, and the man took a taxi home from the Bridge.

A few days prior to his trip, the non-resident worker said he had developed a toothache, but had no respiratory symptoms.

Last night, the man went to Kiang Wu Hospital to seek treatment for the toothache. However, the hospital detected that he had developed a fever. He was tested on that day and then released by the hospital.

The worker said he did not leave his home apart from this trip to the hospital.

The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center said the case was only confirmed just before 5 p.m. today. Following on from this case, in future, those tested for the Covid-19 coronavirus will not be allowed to leave medical facilities until the results are known.

This is the fifth case recorded in Macau this week, after 40 consecutive days without any cases of the disease.

Meanwhile, earlier today, the Macau government announced a 14th confirmed case was detected in a 42-year-old woman from Indonesia. The patient is a family member of a non-resident worker from Indonesia living in Macau.