Macau records first serious case of pneumonia caused by Covid-19

The health authorities announced yesterday that Macau has recorded its first serious case of pneumonia caused by the Covid-19 disease.
Doctor Lo Iek Long, assistant to the Board of Directors of the Conde de São Januário Hospital Center disclosed the information during the daily press conference at the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center.
According to Lo, the 18th Covid-19 patient in Macau, a 50-year-old woman who recently returned to Macau from the U.S., has seen her health worsen between March 24 and 29.
“On March 29, she started to have breathing difficulties and reported low blood oxygen levels [hypoxemia] and the new test that was done to her lungs (via a computed tomography) showed that there was an aggravation of pneumonia and the pulmonary infection had taken over more than half of her lungs,” Lo explained. “This lady is considered the first serious case [of Covid-19-induced pneumonia] in Macau.”
The director of the Health Bureau (SSM), Lei Chin Ion, noted that several factors have contributed to the severity of the case, including the age of the patient.
“This is a serious case. If the symptoms continue to aggravate, her life might be at risk,” Lei said, further adding that this case served as a warning for people in Macau not to lower their guard against the disease and to continue to cooperate with government and the health authorities to keep the region as safe as possible from contagion within society.
“The epidemic situation is now serious worldwide and I hope people continue to enforce the preventive measures and avoid gatherings, because I saw several news reports showing that in the last couple of days, several people were gathering and carrying out celebrations and birthday parties or even gathering in the parks and gardens,” Lei said. He added that it is still not the time to return to social gatherings and urged the public to assume responsibility. “We can’t waste all the [prior] efforts made by everyone to keep Macau safe.”
The 18th patient is now considered intermediate on the severity scale, which consists of three levels ranging from light to severe. She is the first patient out of the 38 cases so far reported in Macau be in such a condition.
The patient arrived in Macau on March with her 19-year-old son (Covid-19 case 19) after having traveled from New York to Hong Kong via a Cathay Pacific flight. She and her son were transported in the special vehicle organized by the Tourism Crisis Management Office and arrived at the Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Port, where she showed symptoms such as fever and a dry cough. She was immediately transported to the public hospital where she tested positive for the Covid-19 and has been receiving treatment since.