Starting on Wednesday, asymptomatic or mild Covid-19 cases or people with no serious underlying medical conditions can be isolated and treated at home.
Health officials released the latest guidelines online yesterday, which can be accessed via this link (only available in Chinese).
People whose rapid antigen test (RAT) or nucleic acid test (NAT) results are positive can conduct a self-assessment through an electronic platform, which will launch on Wednesday.
The assessment will require a person to submit information like age, underlying medical conditions, vaccination status and clinical symptoms. It will then evaluate if the person meets the conditions for home isolation and treatment.
The assessment results will be divided into four categories displayed in different colours:
– Green: Home isolation treatment
– Yellow: Make an appointment at one of the city’s three designated health clinics
– Orange: Go to Macao East Asian Games Dome community treatment centre
– Red: Take ambulance to the Conde São Januário Hospital’s emergency department for further evaluation and treatment
The three designated health clinics are Polyclinic of the Macau Medical and Health Federation in NAPE, Federação de Médico e Saúde de Macau do Edifício Ilha Verde and Rotunda do Estádio. Macao’s health authorities have said they will add more than 20 designated clinics in the near future.
Those who are infected with Covid-19 will immediately have their Macao Health Codes turn red.
If the infected person is required to go to a designated health clinic or the Dome community treatment centre, the person will be evaluated by a doctor to decide if he or she must be hospitalised, or stay in quarantine hotels or hospital facilities for isolation and treatment, according to the severity of the illness.
If after evaluation the person does not need to be hospitalised, the person can then isolate at home. They must take their body temperatures once in the morning and once in the evening, and report their daily health status during the home treatment using another online platform.
The health authorities will provide the infected person with an electronic doctor’s examination certificate, which also contains instructions for using the anti-epidemic package from the government.
However, due to “personal special needs”, some people may need to isolate in a quarantine hotel at their own expense with charges according to the hotel’s general price standard, according to Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre.
The Centre’s guidelines also pointed out that the isolation period for those infected with Covid-19 is five days from the first day they become positive. They will only be released from isolation after their RAT results are negative on the last two days.
Meanwhile, people living in the same place as the infected person undergoing home isolation will be classified as close contacts and their health codes will turn yellow, meaning they must also conduct a self-health management for five days, and not to go out unless necessary.
If they need to go out for important reasons, they must observe appropriate Covid-19 measures and avoid going to crowded places.
