Macao’s total Covid-19 cases stood at 1,810 as of midnight last night with just another five new cases – for the third time in a row – found in the past day, none of them in the community, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced.
All five new cases were found under management and control in the Red Code Zones and medical observation hotels.
According to the centre, a total of 22,899 individuals are currently under follow up, among them are 3,543 close contacts 12,380 people with overlapping itineraries, 1,360 secondary contacts, 253 general contacts and 786 accompanying persons.
Macao completed its 13th citywide nucleic acid testing (NAT) yesterday as the city entered its consolidation period. A total of 722,335 individuals were sampled in the mass testing and two batches of pooled samples were found positive – only one person tested positive in the first batch while all individuals in the other positive batch are currently undergoing further tests.
The next Citywide NAT will be carried out at the end of consolidation period on 30-31 July. Everyone in Macao must take a rapid antigen test (RAT) and upload the result onto the Macao Health Code everyday throughout the consolidation week. Those whose results are positive must immediately call 119, 120 or 2857 2222 for assistance.
In related news, around 19,000 construction workers in Macao have been added to the city’s Key Groups and they must undergo a daily NAT starting today. There are currently nine key groups, including cleaning service, catering service, food delivery and public transportation workers, as well as security guards and stay-out domestic helpers, who must all do the daily testing until further notice.
The other two key groups, all Filipinos in Macao and property management workers, have been required to conduct a NAT everyday until today only, according to the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre.
In addition, people who leave home for work, regardless of their working hours and occupations, must take a NAT every two days starting today or on the first day they go to work until 29 July. Those who began to work but not from home starting from 20 July onwards are also included. While this is not a pre-requisite to go to work, employers have been instructed to ensure their employees adhere to the measure.
