Gov’t refutes possible mass testing over new cases, Harbourview cordoned off

The recent Covid-19 cases do not pose a great risk to the community, thereby reducing the need for mass testing and district lockdowns, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong has said.

Ao Ieong was speaking on the sidelines of a media event of the Grand Prix.

The official told the media that tests conducted in the target areas had all been negative so far, and that these cases do not pose a great risk to the community.

In view of the recent cases detected in Macau, between tomorrow and Friday, all persons wishing to enter the premises of the courts should perform a rapid antigen test on the same day.

Ao Ieong justified the measure mandating four tests in five days in the target areas, stressing that such testing is to “ensure the safety of residents.”

Harbourview Hotel was cordoned off on Saturday after the discovery that one of its guests from mainland China had tested positive for Covid.

In turn, the city has required those who live and work in the places the 60-year-old woman visited to get tested four times in five days.

The move is in line with the rigid zero-Covid policy that seeks to eliminate infections through lockdowns, quarantines, case tracing and mass testing, despite the impact on normal life and the economy.

The patient flew to Zhuhai from Suzhou in Jiangsu province, along with two members of her family before entering the city on November4.

According to local authorities, the woman had been sightseeing across the city for at least four days before she tested positive for Covid, and authorities confirmed an “epidemiological investigation is in progress.”

“Since the case began to develop symptoms on the second day after arriving in Macau, it was preliminarily judged as a confirmed case of imported novel coronavirus,” the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center said.

Although she visited integrated resorts such as Sands, The Venetian, The Londoner and The Parisian, she claimed she did not enter shops or casinos.

A nucleic acid test (NAT) drive started Saturday and will continue until November 23. LV