The peak of Macao’s current Covid-19 contagion has passed, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said today.
Based on the existing data and models, the peak took place from 21-23 December, she added.
However, the secretary pointed out that the city is currently facing the peak period of severe cases, which Ao Ieong said began in the first half of this week.
The city’s health authorities will continue to observe the number of people testing positive for Covid-19, which is gradually decreasing. Hence, the number of people back to work after recovering from the disease is expected to increase gradually, she underlined.
Ao Ieong said the next challenge in Macao will be the resumption of classes after school holidays, which were extended from 3 January to 9 January 2023 due to the city’s current Covid-19 development. Authorities are currently collecting relevant data, such as the number of students who have tested positive.
The Macao government has previously estimated 50-80 per cent of the city’s population would test positive in the current Covid-19 outbreak.
Ao Ieong believes that “possibly” more than 50 per cent of the population has tested positive for the disease. However, current data on reported positive cases only focus on those who need to go to work and apply for a sick leave certificate, while the data still lacks information on students and the elderly.
She admitted it is, therefore, difficult to accurately calculate the number of new Covid-19 cases in Macao.
