Over 500 cross-border students still stranded after border changes

More than 500 students and their parents who do not have a living place in Macau have been arranged to stay in youth hostels and school dormitories, according to an updated issued by the education authority yesterday.
Currently, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEDJ) is planning to prepare learning equipment and environment for students to study in various camps.
“We hope that through various aspects of work, we try our best to facilitate the life and study of cross-border students who are staying in Macau,” the bureau said.
Around 1,000 students residing in Zhuhai were stuck in Macau after returning to the SAR for classes which were scheduled to resume on Monday.
Classes had been canceled due to an announcement by the Health Bureau that a batched sample containing ten individual samples returned a preliminary positive test result for Covid-19.
DSEDJ only announced the suspension of classes when hundreds of students have already crossed the border.
Schools have been requested to make appropriate arrangements and inform parents.
For cross-border students, DSEDJ was able to provide shelter in several different locations for the students in need of a place to stay, as well as providing assistance with other daily needs such as food and clothes.
The Hac Sa Youth Hostel, Cheoc Van Youth Hostel, University of Macau and other institutions have provided the accomodation, following cleaning and disinfection of the premises.
Students who need accommodation or other assistance should contact their school or teachers as soon as possible so that the DSEDJ can collect data and make proper arrangements for the students.
The bureau requests that, where possible, students stay with friends or family so that accommodation can be prioritized for those students who do not have other options.
Classes were supposed to resume on October 4 following the cases that were discovered towards the end of September.
Also, Zhuhai was supposed to lift quarantine entry measures from noon that day for Macau residents who hold both a vaccination certificate and a negative NAT certificate. These individuals were to be exempted from the 14-day quarantine.
Until now, such measure is suspended.

Gov’t admits period of restrictions shorter
Leong Iek Hou, coordinator at the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was questioned by the press Tuesday on the reasons for the comparatively rapid return to normality in the community following the previous outbreak. The school suspension, for example, was set to last for only 10 days had the renovation worker cluster not been detected.
She admitted the period of restrictions was shorter than on previous occasions and disclosed that it was a decision made jointly by the local authorities and a group of mainland experts who have studied the recent outbreaks in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong province.
“93.2% of these cases [in Guangzhou] saw onset in seven days; 97.7% in 10 days and 100% in 14 days,” Leong said, adding that, considering the last outbreak, the overall risks were low and manageable. Staff Reporter