Baby swallows swab in virus testing accident

A nine-month-old baby girl is said to have swallowed the cotton head of the sample collection swab at the Taipa Maritime Ferry Terminal’s Provisional Covid-19 Test Station yesterday morning.
Information released by the Fire Service Bureau disclosed that the infant was having her throat secretion specimen collected at the station when it was reported that she swallowed the top part of the swab.
Following the incident, the baby was sent to the public Conde São Januário Hospital in conscious state in the company of her family members and station personnel.
In response to the incident, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center announced yesterday that only nasal swabs will be administered to people under the age of 18 starting from this Thursday. People above the age threshold can choose between nasal or throat swabs.
Connected to the new measure, test-takers under the age of 18 will only be allowed to take the test at the Macau Forum or the public hospital.
Meanwhile, on social media, netizens started to blame the victims after seeing the report, condemning the parents for sending such a small baby to do the test. Some of them asked why the parents wanted to take her out of Macau.
They accused the parents of wanting to travel for non-essential reasons, such as to enjoy hotpot or bubble tea in Zhuhai, which led them to risk their baby taking the test.
On July 21, a seven-year-old boy reportedly swallowed a 3-cm swab while undertaking the test at the same facility. He was sent to the public hospital but the medical team was not able to locate the swab in his body. AL