Health | MERS scare reaches Macau

The Health Bureau held a press conference on the suspected MERS case reported in Guangdong

Macau has been on alert for the potentially deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, since at least five of the passengers coming into close contact with a newly confirmed Korean patient were found to have stayed in Macau briefly last week.
In addition, a local woman who showed respiratory symptoms after travelling to South Korea was declared free from the MERS infection, but has instead been diagnosed with H3N2 influenza.
The Health Bureau (SSM) announced Saturday night that 18 of the 29 passengers identified as being in close contact with the initial patient – confirmed to be China’s first MERS patient – have all been quarantined in Hong Kong, while the other 11 are believed to have left the neighboring city.
Amongst those in quarantine, one Korean passenger spent several hours in Macau last Thursday, whereas another four Korean passengers, now beyond reach, also visited the city briefly last Wednesday and left that night via the Pac On Ferry Terminal.
The SSM issued a series of releases informing the neighboring regions of the medical situation last Saturday, where it estimated that “even if those four Korean visitors were infected, they hadn’t fallen ill and [thus] posed no risk of contagion” when entering Macau.
The initial patient, put into isolation in a Huizhou hospital in Guangdong, is a 44-year-old Korean traveller who came to Huizhou via Hong Kong on business. He reportedly lied to the checkpoint health inspectors despite having already shown symptoms when flying into HK from Seoul on an Asian Airlines flight OZ723 last Tuesday.
Regarding the four visitors who entered Macau, the SSM explained that “the shortest incubation period of MERS is two days, whereas when the four Korean visitors came to Macau, it had only been one day since they came into contact with the index paritent aboard the flight.” Nevertheless, it guaranteed to jointly trace those visitors’ whereabouts and health conditions together with neighboring health authorities.
In addition, four people have reported to the Macau Centre for Disease Control and Prevention that they took related flights, but all were ruled out from the passenger list sharing the same flight with the initial patient.
The Chief Executive Chui Sai On also assured the media on Friday that the government has both legal and medical mechanisms in place to prevent and control the disease, and won’t hesitate to enforce mandatory quarantine measures.
“When an infectious disease [case] occurs, whether tourists or local residents must comply with the local laws. Everyone knows that we clearly have a Communicable Disease Prevention Act and other regulations for the purposes of protecting the overall public hygiene, and the health of citizens and tourists in Macau. Thus, should mandatory quarantine be needed – drawing on the previous experience – we would definitely implement it in accordance with the law,” he said.
According to the Act, Macau’s health authorities can order suspected MERS patients and those at risk to undergo medical tests, even mandatory quarantine. “If not to comply, [one] may be held criminally liable,” stressed the SSM.
Since Friday, every passenger arriving at the Macau airport from South Korea has undergone an individual temperature screening by the health inspectors, apart from the existing monitoring of body temperatures. Local health authorities have also pledged to release daily updates.
“Drawing on Korea’s MERS occurrences and its tendency to spread, the SSM has requested each border checkpoint to strengthen its temperature monitoring on people bound from there,” the bureau said in a press release.
Furthermore, it stated that  the publicly run Hospital Conde S. Januário is ready to receive suspected patients at any time.
Besides 25 isolation beds ready for use, the hospital has prepared another 19 beds that can be prepared in a short time. Meanwhile, the SSM has prepared insulation materials that are adequate for three months’ use.
The health authorities are still appealing to the passengers aboard the aforementioned flight to contact the Macau Centre for Disease Control and Prevention at 2870 0800, and returning travellers to seek early medical treatment if feeling any flu-like symptoms.