Conditions offered to airport arrivals concern Pereira Coutinho

Lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho is concerned with the treatment of returning residents of Macau upon their arrival at the local airport.

In a spoken inquiry delivered at the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday afternoon in the period before the agenda, the lawmaker criticized the measures in force from health authorities, claiming that “residents are being punished for having traveled abroad.”

The lawmaker classifies the conditions affecting returnees as “inhumane,” noting that the announcements made by the Health Bureau of measures promising more speed in the processing of nucleic acid tests and the transfer of the passengers to medical observation hotels for quarantine are still not acceptable, claiming that, in some case, wait times are now even longer than before.

Among the many problems listed, Pereira Coutinho notes the many complaints presented by residents concerning “the chronic difficulties in reserving rooms for quarantine” as well as conditions that are faced by the residents on return, especially the elderly, pregnant women, people carrying young children and babies and those with disabilities. The lawmaker protested against the lack of support and help given to those in need by the local authorities as well the lack of hygiene in the restrooms and the total absence of social distancing during the long hours of waiting.

The lawmaker also want the health authorities to review the regulations that provide that the underage residents must be quarantined together with their parents or tutors, a fact that, he claimed, in at least one case, caused the infection of two residents, daughters of another resident who had tested positive on arrival.

According to Pereira Coutinho, only the father was initially infected but the family of three was forced to share the same quarantine room, a situation that led to the contagion of the minors, aged 17 and nine years old.