A local man who returned to Macao on Saturday from Turkey via the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Singapore has tested positive for Covid-19, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre has announced.
The centre has classified the case as imported and asymptomatic, so it has not been added to Macao’s novel coronavirus tally, which remains at 79.
The centre identified the male patient as a 55-year-old who received his first and second mRNA jabs in Macao last Spring, before receiving a mRNA booster jab in Turkey in December.
According to the centre, the man tested negative for Covid-19 in a nucleic acid test in Dubai on Thursday last week. He flew to Singapore the next day and caught a connecting flight to Macao on Saturday.
The man tested negative for the novel coronavirus upon arrival at the airport, after which he was transferred to the Treasure Hotel – an official quarantine facility – for medical observation. He still tested negative for Covid-19 in two follow-up tests, on Sunday and Monday. However, he “weakly” tested positive for the novel coronavirus in a follow-up test on Tuesday night.
The man was transferred to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane yesterday morning, where he underwent a follow-up test which came up with a negative result again.
According to the centre, the man, who had still not come down with any Covid-19 symptoms as of last night, told SSM officials that he had never been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease, The Macau Post Daily reported.
