Three new Covid-19 cases within one night in Macau

The city’s medical staff saw three new Covid-19 cases in a single night yesterday.

The latest case is the youngest of all Covid-19 patients in Macau. He is the 11-year-old son of the 14^thcase, the spouse of a non-resident worker. The family is, according to the Health Bureau, of Indonesian nationality.

On March 17 he, along with his parents, boarded Cathay Pacific flight CX718 from Jakarta to Hong Kong. He was in seat number 47E. The now patient then travelled to Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

The young patient is currently being treated at the Conde de São Januário Hospital (CHCSJ) with mild condition. His father, meanwhile, tested negative on March 18 after he developed a fever believed to be unrelated to the coronavirus. The health authority said he would be tested again 48 hours after his first examination.

Also treated at the CHCSJ is the 16^thcase of the city, who is a female student aged 19 years old. She returned from the U.K. with four fellow schoolmates. They took Singapore Airlines flight 317 from London’s Heathrow Airport to Singapore, and then flight 856 operated by the same airline company from Singapore to Hong Kong.

Two of her schoolmates are Macau residents. The three of them crossed the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to Macau, while the fourth schoolmate from Hong Kong from the same group, voluntarily returned to Hong Kong upon arrival in Macau.

As the four fellow schoolmates were categorized as people of close contact, the Macau health authority has notified its counterpart in Hong Kong.

As for the 15^thcase – a Filipino non-resident worker who has recently returned from home – his five housemates have been preliminarily tested negative but a second test is still scheduled for 48 hours after the first. They have developed respiratory symptoms.

People in Macau who took the same flight as the aforementioned patients should call the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center.

Anthony Lam