Health authorities have not ruled out that the Covid-19 Delta variant, which was first detected in India, has entered or could enter Macao due to the large number of people travelling between the city and Guangzhou.
Tai Wa Hou, a clinical director at the Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, stressed that the Delta variant has a “very short incubation period, very fast transmission speed, and very high viral load”.
Residents are being urged to comply with recently-tightened Covid-19 prevention measures and get inoculated against the novel coronavirus as soon as possible.
Tai said that the novel coronavirus has spread among people who may have simply shared a meal in a restaurant in Guangzhou, adding that the Covid-19 transmissions in the provincial capital – which have so far lasted over three weeks – began with a senior citizen last month, triggering a third-generation spread within a week.
Tai said that the Covid-19 epidemic in Guangzhou had caused its government to carry out a mass nucleic acid test (NAT) drive for all 18 million residents. Guangzhou has had no choice but to suspend its Covid-19 vaccinations as it needs to allocate its human resources to carry out NATs, Tai said.
Tai also noted that Macao’s 51st Covid-19 patient – who has been classified as an imported case – was diagnosed with carrying the Delta variant – scientifically known as B.1.617.
