Origin of new case ‘unknown’, Zhuhai blames Macau

Local health authorities are yet to confirm whether the case of the non-resident worker found by Zhuhai authorities to be infected with Covid-19 is an infection originating in Macau or Zhuhai, the local coordinator of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Leong Iek Hou said during yesterday’s press briefing from the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center.

Questioned on the topic by the media, Leong said that it was not possible yet to confirm the origin of the infection.

“The case has been discovered by the Zhuhai side and we are investigating the source together. We are still trying to find it as, for the time being, no links have been found between this infection and other cases,” Leong said, adding, “It’s too early to say if there is any connection, but, so far, all the nucleic acid tests (NATs) conducted on his workmates as well as people co-living with the positive case turned out negative.”

While Leong said that local authorities need to wait for the final results from the NATs being done at the key area defined in the surroundings of the border gate, authorities across the border seem to have already made up their minds about the case, classifying it as an “imported case from Macau.”

Leong further explained in response to another media inquiry that the most scientific and accurate method to ensure the origin of the infection is by sequencing the virus DNA and comparing it with other cases detected locally. Leong admitted however, that this work is impossible to be done on the Macau side as the sample that tested positive was found across the border.

“We don’t have the sample. As you know the case was detected in Zhuhai. For now, we don’t even know the strain of this virus. We can only wait for the information from Zhuhai authorities,” the official explained, noting that Zhuhai is in control of the situation.

As a result of the case, people in Macau in two different key areas have been called to do NATs on Sunday and Monday.

Of those tested, Leong said all the over 200,000 NAT results obtained so far are negative.

“It seems that the risk is not high and although the area around the border gate is still undergoing testing, no positive cases have been found yet. When all the results are out, we will know for sure,” she said, adding that also over 582,000 rapid antigen tests (RATs) uploaded to the reporting platform from Sunday and Monday until 5 p.m. also show all results as negative.

“All the RATs from yesterday [Sunday] were negative and if all RATs from today are also negative, we are not going to ask the population to continue doing it,” Leong remarked.

Zhuhai also in charge of the border

The same health authorities from Zhuhai have also announced further restrictions on the border crossing between Macau and Zhuhai, the representative of the Public Security Police Force, Ma Chio Hong, revealed yesterday. Ma noted that for one month starting today (August 9 to September 9), border crossings are limited to one round trip per day at all the border posts.

Late last week, PSP announced that the only exception to this rule was the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Port.

According to Ma, this measure applies to everyone crossing the border with exception of cross-border drivers and others people whose job duties require them to cross the border several times a day.

The neighboring city authorities also said that those with a specific reason justifying a need to cross the border more frequently than the general rule, will need to file a special request that will be analyzed by Zhuhai.

“People that have a special reason need to file a request for exemption and submit it to our [PSP] immigration department at Pac On. We will then forward these requests to Zhuhai and they will approve them or not according to their analysis. After that we [PSP] will communicate the result to the applicants,” he concluded.

Positive cases from abroad require more scrutiny from authorities

On the delays at the local airport, Dr. Leong Iek Hou justified the need for giving additional scrutiny to arrivals from abroad, as the authorities are finding a large percentage of positive cases.

“Over 10% of all the people arriving last Saturday (for instance) tested positive,” she said, adding, “We also think the current situation [of the long wait times] is not the ideal but there are several procedures and we need to ensure all these steps are properly undertaken.”

According to the figure cited, on Saturday alone, more than 100 people arrived in Macau from abroad via a transfer flight in Singapore. Of those, 11 have reportedly tested positive and are undergoing isolation in different venues.