Six more Covid-19 cases have been detected, all of which are classified as “related to an imported case”, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre has announced.
The first patient is a 68-year-old female Macao resident, the wife of the 69-year-old man who tested positive for Covid-19 early in the morning today. He dined in Tong Kei restaurant, where the cabbie had breakfast. The woman is reported to have long-term illnesses and her husband is mainly the one responsible for her daily necessities. She said she did not leave the house recently.
The couple’s core close contacts are currently under medical observation, while the woman – who has shown fatigue and several other symptoms – has been transferred to the Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane for isolation and treatment.
The second patient is a 77-year-old male Macao resident, a retiree, who lives in Edf. Tim Yee on Calçada Central de S. Lázaro 18-20B. He had breakfast in the Tong Kei restaurant on Estrada do Repouso daily from 25-27 November, meaning he has a common track with the 74-year-old cabbie who tested positive on Monday. The “Cabbie Cluster” has since resulted in 12 cases.
Since the man used cash to pay for his meals at the restaurant, there was no record of him being in the restaurant and, as a result, he was not listed as a person subject to control.
His rapid antigen test (RAT) result this morning was positive and he was immediately sent to the Conde San Januário Hospital, where his nucleic acid test (NAT) result also returned positive. His NAT results on 28 and 29 November were all negative.
The man and his family members have been sent to the Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane for medical isolation and observation.
The other cases from the same cluster are two more female Macao residents, the 70-year-old wife of the cabbie and a 69-year-old retiree who lives in the same building as the couple.
When the taxi driver tested positive on Monday, his wife was immediately taken under medical observation and her two NAT results were negative. She developed a sore throat last night and her NAT result was positive today.
The woman who lives in the same building began to have a slight cough and pain in the morning today, testing positive for Covid-19 after. Her case was detected under medical observation.
Two more Covid-19 cases reported today involve a 36-year-old male non-resident worker from mainland China and his 29-year-old wife, a Macao resident, who works at Wynn Palace’s Human Resources department. The husband works as a tally clerk at Pier 5 in the Inner Harbour.
The man’s NAT results were negative on 26 and 27 November but he felt unwell this morning. His RAT result was positive today and he was immediately transferred to the Conde San Januário Hospital to undergo an NAT, the result of which was positive. He was then taken to England Marina Club Hotel for medical isolation and treatment.
According to the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, the man travelled to Zhuhai, on 27 and 28 November, and had meals at various places in Macao on 28 and 29 November.
His wife, meanwhile, has not undergone an NAT in the past two weeks. When her husband’s RAT result was positive this morning, she was also taken to the hospital, where she had to undergo a NAT – her test result was positive. She is asymptomatic and currently undergoing medical isolation and treatment at the England Marina Club Hotel.
She has no recent travel history outside Macao but she went to a restaurant called DauDau HotPot at Nova Mall in Taipa yesterday.
The couple live in Cerese, Block 3, on Avenida do Coronel Mesquita 56A, which has now been listed as a Red Code Zone.
As most of these cases have been detected under control, the risk of community transmission caused by the new Covid-19 cases remains low, said the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre.
