Authorities warned almost 1,000 residents today, the first of a week-long partial lockdown – or “pause” in official parlance – for walking their dogs, running, wandering in the streets or not using masks. Police and staff from 34 other government departments have been called out to enforce the latest official regulations.
Public Security Police Force public relations officer Cheong Kin Ian said: “No fines have been issued yet. At present, it’s just a phase of inspection and supervision to ensure everyone is following the law, but in the second phase we will start fining the offenders.
“And there are still people who don’t use the correct mask type.”
The Municipal Affairs Bureau warned that owners were only allowed to take their pets outside to visit the vet, and not for exercise or other reasons. A statement released on the Government Information bureau website also says IAM never gave any replies contradictory to what the police has been saying.
While an eerie calm took over the whole of Macao today, disturbed only by residents heading to or from nucleic acid tests as part of the mass drive, health officials moved to streamline the system.
Two more mobile testing buses are being brought into action; from tomorrow one will be stationed at the Affiliated School of the University of Macau, and on Wednesday a second will take up position at Macau Anglican College. All together will be five mobile testing stations.
The Covid-19 numbers continued to stack up. The city has recorded 1,526 confirmed cases, and nearly 20,000 are being followed up. In the seventh round of mass-testing, most of the 599,997 who undertook NATs proved negative, although 12 pooled samples tested positive. The Macao Government Tourism Office reported that 4,550 people are confined to medical observation hotels
Leong Iek Hou, who heads up the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, said: “Seventeen confirmed cases were found in the community, and that means there is still a chain of infection within the community. If our measures do not keep pace with the pandemic, it will have a big impact in controlling the pandemic.
“We can only make the final assessment of the situation after the 10 NATs and daily RATs have been done. The situation is very dynamic and so no decisions will be taken before the end of these tests. If we still have cases in the community, we can’t let our guard down.”
Leong advised residents to keep their homes especially clean, paying particular attention to fridges and toilets.
The Health Bureau stated that 980 patients were willing to receive Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment, and that 842 had been judged suitable. Most of the patients think that it is very effective for relieving their coughing or sore throat, though some of the patients got diarrhoea after taking Chinese medicine.
