Macau’s plan to welcome Chinese Olympic medalists remains in place for the time being, public health doctor Leong Iek Hou, coordinator at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said yesterday.
The comment was made at the weekly health press briefing, when she was asked if the visit of the medalists will be affected, postponed or canceled, given that the epidemic condition is intensifying in mainland China.
Leong said that the medalists are now under quarantine in the mainland, which began after their visit to Hong Kong. They will take a Covid-19 nucleic acid test (NAT) to determine if they are fit for travel nearer the date.
“I believe the visit will continue as planned,” Leong said.
In regards to the long-anticipated border normalization between Macau and Hong Kong, the public health doctor said that no update was available. She reiterated that the matter is still under discussion between the Special Administrative Regions and the mainland.
There are currently no new factors under consideration, implying that the Omicron variant is not yet a factor in discussions between the two jurisdictions.
Although Health Bureau (SSM) officials have noted that footprint registration is not mandatory, the SSM is expanding the coverage of the registration QR code to social services facilities.
Currently, such QR codes are posted at public service offices, the SSM’s healthcare facilities and public buses. Previously, both Leong and Director Alvis Lo of the SSM have stated that code scanning would be voluntary, though they encouraged the public to use the app.
At the press briefing, Leong disclosed that the SSM is striving to expand coverage of the code to catering establishments, healthcare facilities and entertainment venues.
A reader reported to the Times yesterday that a bus driver told a passenger who paid for the ride in cash to scan the footprint registration QR code on the bus to register the trip.
Regarding the price of Macau NATs, Leong said that, due to higher salary costs in Macau, there is no room for lower prices. Zhuhai has once again lowered the price of NATs in the city.
SSM switches to “dynamic case clearing”
Given that many have expressed disagreement with the “zero-tolerance” policy in Covid-19 control, Leong was asked whether there would be changes to the city’s strategy.
In response, the public health doctor said in compliance with the mainland’s “dynamic case clearing” tactic, the city’s authorities will work to contain any new cases within a short period of time.
“The core [tenet] of the tactic is early identification,” Leong said.
She added that the public should accept the possibility of new cases and of community infections from imported cases. She admitted that the vaccine is not currently 100% effective because the virus is becoming increasingly resistant.
