Briefs | Temperatures to drop as low as 10 degrees next week

At the beginning of next week, the minimum temperature will drop to around 10 degrees Celsius, according to weather forecast by the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG). The air temperature will drop significantly on Sunday, February 16, as the region will be affected by a strong winter monsoon. The local weather will be cold and dry. Due to disturbances in the upper air, it will remain showery with some thunderstorms on February 14 and February 15.The public are advised to be aware of the change in weather and keep themselves warm. Tomorrow’s weather will be cloudy with occasional showers and a few thunderstorms. Temperatures will range between 18 C and 22 C.

More parties donate to Macau and mainland China

More individuals and groups have raised funds and donated facemasks to Macau and mainland China. Ou Mun Páng Ip Chek Ip Cong Vui, a local Macau scaffolding association, raised over 40,000 patacas to be donated to mainland China. Nam Yue (Group) Company Limited donated 100,000 facemasks to the Macau SAR government. Meg-Star donated 10 million patacas to mainland China in addition to other medical supplies. Fukien Women Association of Macau and members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of Fujian Province Zhang Zong Zhen donated 20,000 and 29,000 facemasks respectively to the SAR government.

FSS pays old-age and disability pensions today

The Social Security Fund (FSS) has announced that old-age pension or disability pension applicants who received approval notices in January this year will receive their payments today. The FSS appeals to the people concerned to cooperate with the SAR government’s epidemic prevention recommendations, to stay at home, and to refrain from going to banks to “update their passbooks” because of this. The FSS also said that the number of working days from January 30 will not count towards the application period of various benefits and allowances, and that residents should wait until public services return to normal before applying. In addition, beneficiaries of the old-age and disability pensions can provide proof of life until the end of March without affecting the normal payment of benefits in April. The FSS reiterated that the payment deadline for contributions for the fourth quarter of 2019, the employment fee for non-resident workers, and contributions of casual workers for December 2019 will be extended to February 28 and that any late payments will be exempt from interest and fines.