Health authorities back PSP decision on June 4 vigil

Health authorities at the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center, have backed the Public Security Police Force’s (PSP) decision of not authorizing the annual June 4 vigil in Senado Square.
Questioned on the main topic at yesterday’s daily press conference, Dr. Alvis Lo reaffirmed that the milestone reached by Macau whereby there are no active cases of Covid-19 recorded, was “achieved by the efforts of the population.”
“We managed to tackle all the cases and avoid an outbreak in the community because all the people collaborated [in complying with the measures enforced],” added Lo.
According to the medical doctor, “it is not the time to lower our guard. We must continue with the epidemic control work.”
Speaking on behalf of health authorities, Lo added that since the beginning of the outbreak, the authorities have always recommended citizens to avoid all types of gatherings, a fact that remains unaltered and justifies the opinion given by the PSP on the vigil.
“We are keeping the same recommendations as before. In the future when we consider that conditions are better, we can slowly reduce some restrictions,” he said.
The representative of the PSP to the Center, Lei Tak Fai, said that the decision taken by the PSP not to authorize the vigil had been based on the opinion of the health authorities that considered the activity as “unsafe” from a public health point-of-view.
Lei also added, “We are doing the same thing as everyone else around the world to avoid a high concentration of people and the government has also appealed for the non-gathering of a high number of people.”
The representative of the Macao Government Tourism Office, Inês Chan, reinforced Lo’s words, noting that Macau people cannot lower their guard, and added that the government’s priority at the moment is to “keep a balance between facilitating the circulation of people and [ensuring] public safety.”
Regarding other public events that have already occurred and have been authorized under certain conditions, such as the May 1 gathering and upcoming sporting events, the health authorities declined to comment on any “particular cases.”