About 3,500 frozen food sector workers in Macao are being given a nucleic acid test (NAT) every three days.
The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) said that in order to prevent the novel coronavirus from entering Macao via imported fruit and its packaging, it had decided to implement stricter measures to ensure that the fruit and its packaging were completely disinfected and people working in the frozen food sector would have an NAT every three days.
The IAM pointed out that initially workers involved in product import, loading, unloading, transportation, storage or retail only needed to have a weekly NAT once, but yesterday the bureau implemented the new rule.
The bureau said that the aim of the new rule is to protect the general public. The IAM added that it has listened to workers’ feedback and has discussed the measure with the Health Bureau to increase the number of designated NAT stations for the workers.
The IAM noted that since last year, the bureau has implemented the complete disinfection of imported fruit packaging. The bureau pointed out that, on average, Macao receives around 100,000 boxes of imported fruit and frozen goods weekly, and it regularly tests, on average, 300 samples daily.
The IAM also said that it has strengthened its imported fruit tracking system to trace the whereabouts of each imported fruit package.
Since the frozen food control measures have been implemented, IAM officials have inspected the airport, wharfs, frozen food storage areas, retail venues and fruit stalls more than 780 times, The Macau Post Daily reported.
