Covid-19 | Airport workers under close-loop management may swap positions

On the humaneness of allowing some airport staff just seven days per month to spend time with families, a healthcare official has suggested they may be able to swap between positions to avoid such a cycle being constant.

The Macau International Airport Co. Ltd. announced yesterday that, in compliance with government’s virus containment guidelines, staff working in “high-risk” positions will be required to work 14 days in a row, spend seven days in central quarantine and then spend another seven days at home.

The airport hangar has been converted to a makeshift hostel to accommodate these staff members.

A reporter scrutinized the requirement and questioned public doctor Leong Iek Hou, division head for prevention and control of contagious disease of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about the humaneness of the arrangement.

“Hearing you detailing the arrangement prompted me to think about the humaneness,” Leong said. She thanked these staff for their contribution and selflessness for being able to see their families for only seven days a month, let alone the fact that Lunar New Year is a period celebrating family reunion.

The public health doctor elaborated, saying that the staff can take rotations so that they would not need to fall into the cycle unendingly. Therefore, they would have more time to see their families.

Visually impaired virtually grounded 

Recently, a local news outlet reported on complaints made by the visually impaired, who could not use footprint recording functions. Footprint recording is now made mandatory by the government for entrance to public venues, such as parks.

Not being able to scan QR codes implies that the visually impaired are virtually grounded.

“We hope to make a simplified version of the [Macao Health Code] app which elders and the physically impaired will find […] easier to use,” Leong said. “However, those with special needs will still need our help to use the app.”

She hinted that it is impossible to completely satisfy the needs of all people.

She was also asked how the needy can have access to the printed version of the health code, as many entities that provide this service will be off during the Lunar New Year holidays.

The public health doctor said that many entities would still operate such a service during the holiday period, but did not specify which.

On the take-up of the Macao Health Code app, Leong boasted the rising download rate, downplaying the fact that the government requires entrants to public venues to record their footprints using the app. It means that without the app, many people, especially those whose jobs rely greatly on visiting public venues, such as post offices, cannot even work without the app.

Hong Kong to shorten quarantine to two weeks

Yesterday afternoon, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam told a press conference that the city will reduce the quarantine period for foreign entrants to 14 days. The new measure will take effect on February 5.

Lam justified the decision by citing the much shorter incubation period of the Omicron variant.

However, the city’s social distancing requirements will be retained until February 17.

As of yesterday, Macau has no plan to follow suit. Leong was questioned on the matter at the regular local health press briefing, where the public health doctor responded that the local authority feared there would be loopholes letting in other variants – those with a longer incubation period.