From today, some 20,000 non-resident workers (TNR) from Zhuhai will be exempted from underdoing a medical observation period when reentering Macau. The representative of the Public Security Police Force (PSP) at the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center, Ma Chio Hong, advanced the figure during yesterday’s daily press conference.
“More than 20,000 TNR meet the requirements to be exempted from the medical observation. We hope we can continue to ease on some restrictions but always prioritize the health of the population,” Ma said in reply to a question from the media.
The new measures, aiming to ease the access of such workers to both sides of the border, where they live and work, were presented by the authorities on Saturday, entering into force from 6 a.m. today.
The exemption is extended to all TNR from Zhuhai who possess a valid certification of a negative test for Covid-19, which will be accessible to the authorities on both sides of the border via the health declaration application, the health authorities explained.
To facilitate this, the Macau health declaration form has been upgraded with a color scheme as enforced in the mainland, and the addition of a new button that allows the transference of data including medical history, travel history and tests results made on both sides of the border.
Leong recommended that people transfer the data from the Guangdong health declaration to the one for Macau and vice-versa before reaching the border control checkpoint, “because the system needs a stable internet connection and around the border, this is sometimes difficult and can cause problems and delays,” she said.
The coordinator added that the new system has been operating since 10 a.m. yesterday but not many people have used it.
It is important to note that the Covid-19 negative tests which allow the applicants to cross the border have a validity of seven days, after which the tests should be repeated.
In another reply to a media question, Dr Alvis Lo from the Conde de São Januário Hospital Center added that the first tests to be performed for these workers will be free of charge but the subsequent ones will cost MOP180 each.
Lo noted that such a price could be only achieved with the support of the government and in partnership with a third-party entity that is collaborating with the government on the testing.
“Before only the health bureau was doing the test. We managed to find a third-party entity to help and increase our daily capacity to 6,000 tests,” he said. “This amount of MOP180 is well below the real cost and the prices in other regions For example, in Hong Kong this test costs between HKD2,000 and HKD3,000 and in Taiwan it is around TWD6,000 [around MOP1,600].”
The doctor believes the prices charged are fair and does not expect to see any decreases or exemption from payment soon.
Hospitalization time longer in Macau
In response to media questions on the topic, Lo admitted that the average time of hospitalization for the Covid-19 patients in Macau is longer than in most parts of the world.
The acknowledgment was made in reply to a question related to the discharge yesterday of a 19-year old patient who had been kept in treatment and observation for 50 days, which will be followed by another 14-days of quarantine.
“We have patients in hospitalization for as long as seven or eight weeks,” the official said yesterday. “The [hospitalization] time in Macau is, in fact, longer than in other regions because we are monitoring all the health conditions. Our criteria to discharge [Covid-19 patients] is very rigorous.”
The doctor added that, for the time being, local authorities do not expect to make any changes to the requirements for a patient to be discharged.
“This may be only considered if there is another wave of infection, and we decide to make changes based on the previous experience,” he concluded. RM
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