Gov’t mulling best time to end guaranteed mask supply scheme

On the verge of the commencement of the 10th round of the centralized mask supply scheme, Lo Iek Long, medical director of the Conde São Januário Hospital, hinted yesterday that the scheme may have an end date.
With 10 days in each round of centralized mask sales, the scheme has been in effect for nearly three months. A total of 52.5 million masks have been sold to local residents and non-resident workers.
However, the doctor stressed that the decision will not be made suddenly and that the scheme will likely run through rounds 11 and 12. The Health Bureau will take several factors into account, according to the doctor.
“I think it’s time we considered whether this scheme should run forever,” the doctor explained. He added that the authority would keep an eye on the development of the outbreak to decide an end date for the scheme.
“As far as we know, masks are not scarce in the market,” the doctor explained. “That’s why I think residents should start thinking about whether this will be a permanent measure.” He suggested that it might not become a permanent fixture.
The measure was introduced, the doctor said, in an attempt to ensure local people’s accessibility to a critical resource. At the start of the local outbreak, which coincided with the Lunar New Year holiday period in the Greater China Region, very few mask manufacturers were producing the item in sufficient quantity to meet local demand.
In addition, local pharmacies had been unprepared to respond to just how quickly the circumstances changed. Many of them, as the Times has previously reported, ran out of supply while demand across the city continued to grow.
As the situation unfolded, production was resumed in the Greater China Region, stabilizing the supply of masks. Many local pharmacies that are not part of the centralized scheme now also report having sufficient stock of masks.
“When market supply becomes sufficient, we need to reconsider the necessity of the scheme,” the doctor stated. “But there shouldn’t be any problem with round 11.”
When asked how many masks have been sold so far, the medical doctor revealed that in the current round, 6 million masks have been sold. The 10th round of centralized mask supply commences today and will see no change – in terms of selling points, pricing and quantity – from the previous rounds.
Over the previous two days, four Covid-19 patients have recovered and were transferred to the Public Health Clinical Center for post-recovery quarantine.

Nurseries to remain
suspended in May
The supervisory body of subsidized nursery schools, the Social Welfare Bureau, announced at yesterday’s daily press conference held by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center that such nurseries will not resume in May alongside high schools.
The bureau will coordinate with nursery operators and strive to achieve a tuition fee waiver for the month. Since these nurseries are not directly operated by the bureau, it will have to negotiate with the nursery school operators.
The bureau was told by these operators that parents are generally not convinced about the prudence of resuming the service for the time being. Their main concerns are about health and safety. Parents have expressed their disagreement with a premature resumption of service.
There are 40 subsidized nurseries across the city, with 6,800 infants and 1,300 staff.
In the future, when the situation returns to normal, guidelines will be issued to these nurseries with regards to service resumption, which will be conducted in a safe and orderly manner, according to the bureau.

No students asking about
return to Portugal
The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) said yesterday it has received no enquiries from local students who returned from Portugal to Macau in recent months, but now wish to go back to the European country to resume their studies.
Portugal has recently announced that universities will resume on May 4. Earlier, many local students based in Portugal returned to Macau as the pandemic epicenter shifted to Europe.
Yesterday, the MGTO was asked whether it has been asked to help with transportation arrangements for these students to return to Portugal.
At the press conference, the office stated that so far there have been no relevant inquiries. Based on that, the MGTO believes that the returnees have decided not to go back to Portugal, at least for the time being, to resume their studies.