Macao’s current cold weather has coincided with a rise in people seeking flu treatments from emergency health clinics, with the elderly among the worst affected, TDM has reported.
Macao recorded this winter’s lowest temperature yet on Sunday, with thermostats at the Taipa Grande Observatory showing just 9.1°C in the early hours of yesterday morning. The weather is expected to get warmer this week before cooling back down in late December.
The head of the Health Bureau’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Leong Iek Hou, urged everyone to “stay vigilant” with their vaccinations. She told TDM that it had become harder to predict the peak of flu season, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
[See more: The mainland updated its mask policy. Will Macao?]
“Our immunity has been gradually decreasing,” Leong said. She added that while the Covid infection rate appeared to have dropped, other respiratory viruses were on the increase.
Meanwhile, service centres for the elderly saw a rise in calls for help from seniors over the weekend.
The head of Peng On Tung service centre, Pun Ka Lon, told media that some calls resulted in elderly folk being taken to hospitals for treatment. Peng urged the public to help seniors keep warm in the cold weather.
Macao has been hit by its first hailstorm in more than a decade
The city has only had four other instances of hail reported in the past seventy odd years. More volatile weather may occur over the next two days.
