Lawmaker Ron Lam said he has sent a letter to the government as complaints were received concerning extended suspensions of service by certain daycare facilities.
According to the lawmaker, some parents have complained to him about last-minute notifications being received on August 7 from nurseries from which services had been purchased, informing them that friendly measures were suspended from August 8.
“Friendly measures” is a term used by the government to refer to services by daycare facilities, usually nurseries, outside of usual nursery hours.
On August 8, the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS), the entity responsible for subsidized nurseries and elderly homes, issued a press statement that services at subsidized nurseries, elderly daycare centers and talent promotion centers for the physically impaired would be suspended from the next day.
Lam found it confusing as the city had resumed its regular Covid-19 prevention state under which all social facilities should resume normal operations. He added that even though new positive cases had been detected in Zhuhai with footprints in Macau, the city did not face a great risk due to the fact that mass tests had been conducted with zero positive cases uncovered.
He criticized the extended suspensions ordered by the IAS by calling them unscientific, pointing out that the city had resumed operations for dine-in and sports facilities.
Moreover, he pointed out that with regular SARS-CoV-2 tests ongoing in the city for certain groups of people as well as people returning to work, test-takers need daycare services so that they can resume a partially normal life.
He noted that a one-cut suspension to such services was conservative. Families should have the right to decide whether they would use such services. Such families also disclosed to the lawmaker their anxiety regarding future suspensions of services when the city detects small numbers of scattered cases. At these times, it will be difficult for them to make arrangements and care for needy family members.
As such, the lawmaker called on the IAS to make scientific assessments in handling such services.
