NO GOING OUT, NO CROWDING | Government urges caution as business, tourism services resume

TODAY sees the full resumption of government offices and entertainment venues across the city after a suspension in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, but the Health Bureau (SSM) maintains its recommendation of “no going out, no crowding.” At yesterday’s daily press briefing of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center, SSM Director Lei Chin Ion was asked whether his team has contingency plans in connection to the resumption of a series of public services and facilities. In response, the director first pointed out that all previous decisions, including this resumption, are the fruits of comprehensive considerations. “It is our 26th day without new infections,” the director said. He thanked all Macau residents for working together and staying aligned to the government’s policies and measures to have preliminarily cut off a possible community outbreak. “We can say that the risk of a community outbreak in Macau is very low,” the SSM director continued. “Many experts have stated the importance of the prevention of the spread of Covid-19, but we can’t paralyze the society extensively to achieve that.” He hinted that the disease may continue to exist with intermittent new infections. He also pointed to the fact that besides government entities, there are a lot of private entities in Macau, the employees of which need to be paid. “With sufficient preventive measures in place, I think [resumption] is feasible,” said Lei. Masks should be worn at work and people should refrain from leaving home, the director suggested. He also emphasized that gathering poses significant risk. “We can see that many cases in other places were spread at gatherings,” the director said.
If returning back to an office environment is inevitable, the bureau director reminded workers to maintain a meter’s distance from one another. Companies should also pay special attention to ventilation, which is essential to disease prevention. With regards to quarantine measures, the SSM was asked whether it has plans to extend the quarantine period from the current 14 days, given examples elsewhere showed incubation periods of up to a month or even longer. Lei reminded the press briefing attendees of the importance of scientific data. He said there was a case in which the incubation period had gone up to 90 days. “However, [expert epidemiologist] Zhong Nanshan said it was an isolated case,” the director explained. “Scientifically, incubation periods mostly last for three to seven days. Quaran tining suspected cases for 14 days should be sufficient.” Without plans to extend the quarantine period, the SSM was then asked about the quarantine measures for cross-border students. Leong Iek Hou, coordinator of the SSM’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that those students with a home in Macau home should return to the SAR as soon as possible. “Some of them have gone to the mainland to visit relatives,” she said. “But the government has been urging them to come back as soon as possible.” Since school resumption is unlikely to occur this month – after a new case was confirmed recently in neighboring Guangdong province – students may be sent to tuition centers, resuming from today, for extracurricular lessons for the time being. “Students returning from the mainland should quarantine themselves for 14 days,” said Leong. “It is a crucial measure if they want to resume their tuition plan.” Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, the SSM has conducted nearly 3,000 Covid-19 tests on suspected and confirmed patients. For the time being, the SSM has ordered 12,000 test kits from around the world, with a significant number of kits in reserve. Leong said the procurement of such test kits has not been particularly challenging to date. The SSM director stressed that the Macau government is trying its best to source facemasks globally, excluding on the mainland, because it does not want to overburden the mainland’s supply of masks. Updates on mask sales will be given in due course.