The government will try to limit the impact on residents if the Zone- and Category-specific Epidemic Control and Prevention Scheme needs to kick in, Ao Ieong U, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture and Vice President of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center, said yesterday following an epidemic control drill.
The drill was held yesterday morning and was led by the center and the Civil Protection Structure, which consists of some government entities within the center, such as the Unitary Police Service and the Fire Services Bureau.
Previously, the government had compartmentalized the city into 30 zones. If a community infection is recorded in a particular zone, the zone will be listed as at risk. Considering the level of risk, residents living in the area will see their Macau Health Code become Yellow or Red, which will restrict their movement across the city. A Yellow Code bearer will not be allowed to enter hotel, casino or government offices. They will also not be allowed to leave Macau.
Should a zone’s risk level be raised, the government will attempt to conduct virus nucleic acid tests on all residents in the particular zone within one week. However, when questioned as to how long a zone will face a lockdown under the supposed condition, Ao Ieong stressed that it would be a dynamic consideration and would rely on the professional assessment of the Health Bureau (SSM).
In order to conduct the control scheme if necessary, although the Secretary hinted that it is the last scheme that she would want to trigger, all users were required in January to either add the names of their residential buildings or allow SSM to inquire about such information from the Identification Services Bureau (DSI) within the Macau Health Code platform.
Ao Ieong disclosed that about 220,000 residents have registered their addresses on the Health Code platform, while 290,000 gave consent to the SSM to make necessary inquiries with the DSI.
Despite the fact that the government will try its best to minimize the impact on residents, Ao Ieong stressed that the affected area will be expanded if necessary. If one single building is affected, the government will try to lockdown the particular building only.
She was also asked whether residents in the affected area would be notified prior to the lockdown. On this matter, she admitted that it would be difficult for the authorities to make early notifications. She added that making notifications ahead of a lockdown would likely cause panic across the area, if not the entire zone.
According to the government, when a lockdown rolls out, residents in the particular area will not be allowed to leave. Individuals outside the area, meanwhile, will be allowed to enter the area, but not leave until the lockdown ceases.
There are some unconfirmed situations. For example, if a resident is at work in a different area when their residential area goes into lockdown, they will need to contact the government for clarification, although Ao Ieong stressed that their Health Code will be immediately changed to the corresponding color.
It is unclear, however, which Secretary will have the authority to issue the order and make decisions, as two different government structures are involved, if the control scheme shall kick in, although Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, issued an order at the end of the drill to return the Civil Protection Operation Center to quasi-operational mode.
The drill was conducted by 550 people from 29 government entities at both the Lok Kuan Building in Seac Pai Van, Coloane, as well as the Civil Protection Operation Center in Pac On. The drill lasted for two and a half hours in total.
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