Positive cases tally rises to 1,526, two-thirds asymptomatic
The number of positive cases of Covid-19 in Macau reached 1,526 on July 10, health authorities informed, noting the discovery of 59 new cases on Sunday.
According to the coordinator at the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Leong Iek Hou, from this total, around two-thirds (969) are cases of people that do not present any symptoms of the disease and that do not require treatment, although they are being placed under medical observation in isolation at quarantine hotels.
As for the remaining 557 cases, they have been classified as confirmed cases. No new severe cases have been recorded in the new 59 cases, from which only 17 were found within the community, the same official noted.
Although the result points to some positive outlook, Leong warned that it is “too early to celebrate” as the 17 cases found in the community show that there is still a chain of transmission that is not yet under full control.
“We need to continue to follow up on these cases due to the high transmissibility of this Omicron strain. We can still be in a situation of a growing trend of cases again,” she warned, adding, “It is too early to say that the measures we have enforced are working or that these measures are enough to contain the outbreak. We need to continue our work until there are no more cases in the community.”
Leong also informed that until 3 p.m. yesterday, a total of 47 people that were in isolation have been released from medical observation, 28 of them were asymptomatic cases and another 19 were people that have had symptoms but have already recovered.
As for the seventh round of citywide mass testing that concluded yesterday, preliminary results released at 5 p.m. showed that almost all the population had already been tested and, from those, some 260,000 had already received negative results.
As for the 12 batches of 10-in-1 samples that have tested positive, the authorities are already reviewing the cases individually.
Today starts the eighth round of mass testing in a similar format to the previous one and will take place until 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The three professional key groups, including those in cleaning, security, and condominium management, should continue to perform daily nucleic acid tests. The same is required for other professionals operating during the confinement period that is scheduled to end by midnight of July 18.
