Covid-19 | Delta variant confirmed in four new cases

The four new Covid-19 patients in the city have contracted the Delta strain of the coronavirus, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center announced last night.
A recent New York Times news report cited an internal document of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, saying that the strain is “as contagious as chickenpox.” As far as information available, the strain is the most contagious among all SARS-CoV-2 variants.
In response to the new infections recorded, the authorities have cordoned off part of the Rua de Coelho do Amaral as a tactic in the Precise Epidemic Control Scheme.
Eight buildings, meanwhile, located within the cordoned area, are identified as either Red Zone or Yellow Zone.
Mei Lin Building, in which the four patients live, alongside the two buildings adjacent to it, has been identified as the Red Zone. Residents are not allowed to leave the building until the Health Bureau considers appropriate.
To facilitate the lockdown, the Municipal Affairs Bureau has distributed two days of food supplies to the affected residents.
In addition to that, the five other buildings located in the cordoned area, namely Lin Seng Building, Chun Cheong Building, Wo Heng Building, Wa Keong Building and Kin Keong Building, are identified as the Yellow Zone. Residents in the Yellow Zone will be tested for the virus at a later date.
The area between Wing Fat Building, the workplace of the mother, and Avenida de Horta e Costa has also been identified as the Red Zone.
Dr Lei Wai Seng, medical director of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital, admitted that an unconfirmed number of residents from 11 households were not at home when the lockdown commenced, meaning that their secretion samples were not taken.
He said that the authorities will wait for them to return home and if they do not, the authorities will consider other strategies. He added that some of these individuals have gone to the public hospital themselves to take the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
The authorities have previously announced that the daughter was on a school excursion with 29 other individuals. Lei revealed that the authorities managed to trace back 18 of them. They have all been tested negative for the virus.
The remaining 11 have left Macau prior to the onset of the family.