Shopping malls, conditional dine-in and indoor redecoration projects may resume next Wednesday if new case figures run low in the coming days, government public health doctor Leong Iek Hou announced yesterday.
Leong said that an Executive Dispatch will be issued to officially announce the matter.
As of yesterday, the city has recorded no new community cases for four consecutive days.
The public health doctor said that if the figure of new local cases remains low in the coming days, in combination with satisfactory results from the citywide SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test (NAT) this coming weekend, the city will see three more days of the consolidation period, covering Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
The government refers to the days starting from Wednesday, if all goes well, as the stability period.
After assessments, the Health Bureau (SSM) may allow shopping malls and indoor redecoration projects to resume operations with limited capacity during the stability period. “We will make announcements on this as soon as possible,” said Leong.
The KN95 mandate may be scrapped for outdoor workers, so that they will be allowed to wear normal surgical masks only. “But we recommend wearing KN95 during [the stability] period for indoor workers,” Leong added.
In addition, she said if the coming citywide NAT yields low or no new cases with all sources of infections pinpointed, the city will enter the stability period on Wednesday. “Certain measures will be eased,” the public health doctor said.
Regular NATs will become part of Macau’s life. Leong elaborated on the matter that although dine-in services would be allowed to resume, 48-hour-validity NATs will be required for diners, “because dine-in will not allow mask wearing.” Reduced capacity will also be in place.
The same requirement will be implemented for those venues that serve members of the public, such as private tuition centers or continuing education centers.
NATs for key groups and key areas will also linger, she disclosed. The frequency of the regular NAT may be lowered from two days per test to three days during the stability period.
She assured local residents that the requirement for daily SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RATs) would likely remain for “a relatively long period of time.” The distribution of RAT kits will also remain, she added.
On how to define “figures running low,” Leong said she did not have a precise figure in her mind. “It is difficult to define it precisely,” she said. But she reiterated that the new detections must have a clear source and chain of infections.
“Multiple sources of infections will not be acceptable in terms of epidemiology,” she said.
The three-day extension was concluded based on the release of citywide NAT results, Leong added.
The resumption of operations for entertainment venues, meanwhile, will be allowed on a gradual basis, the public health doctor said in reply to a media question.
Leong was also asked whether the situation was developing better than the SSM expected, as it cut short the consolidation period, and she said that assessments had been conducted constantly.
“We have never said clearly how long the consolidation period will be,” Leong said, adding the city is still prone to outbreaks because it is so small and its population is so closely connected. “A rebound can happen abruptly.”
The consolidation period was first announced to be two weeks long.
The duration of the stability period will be determined later, Leong added.
NATs for dining-in will be free-of-charge. “During the consolidation or the stability periods, as long as the NAT is required by the government, it can be booked at the free-of-charge test platform,” Leong ascertained. “Unless the NAT result is used for border crossing.”
In addition, the public health doctor also announced that two other key areas had been designated. The affected areas will be located between Avenida do Almirante Magalhães Correia and Avenida do Nordeste as well as between Avenida do Nordeste and Rua dos Pescadores.
Everybody residing or working in the aforementioned areas, or with a footprint there for at least half an hour on or after July 24, will need to be tested once, on either July 28 or 29. No waiver will be issued to any person.
The government will disseminate an SMS to concerned groups of people. Their health codes will turn yellow on July 30 if they fail to do the test and will turn red on July 31 if they fail to make up for the test.
On why two new key areas have been designated amid the projected fall in new cases, Leong said that the community is still prone to the risk of outbreak as the city is still under the consolidation period.
“Therefore, we are still identifying people or areas with higher risks as key groups and areas,” Leong said. “Several districts have recently seen higher number of infections.”
casinos allegedly
starving workers
It was also raised at yesterday’s press briefing that some casinos were allegedly not allowing their workers to have meals during their shifts, citing SSM guidelines.
It was also reported that casino workers were not allowed to order takeaway food amid company canteens not being operational.
To this, Leong said that SSM had never put any restrictions on the source of meals. It has no restrictions as to whether food is ordered from outside or brought in from home.
She added that during the consolidation period, dining in a public area with no mask on is “relatively risky.”
SSM guidelines ban dining in offices or workplaces unless suitably separated areas are available. Meals can only be taken with one person per separate space at a time.
“We have encouraged employers to find ways so their employees can have meal breaks at work,” Leong emphasized.
The public health doctor was questioned about the matter four times during the press briefing. She eventually referred questioners to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), saying that the latter may be well aware of the concerns after the press conference. She believed that it would issue a response in due course.
