Eight Key Groups are required to undergo one nucleic acid test (NAT) today, while people leaving home for work will have to take one NAT every two days.
The Key Groups are: people who work in industries of cleaning services, security services, and catering services, food delivery workers, public transport and taxi drivers, stay-out domestic helpers, construction site workers, and interior furnishing workers.
If people who need to leave home for work participated in the citywide NAT programme on 30 July, they are still required to undergo one NAT today; however, if they took part in mass-testing on 31 July, they are not subject to a NAT today.
The NAT is not considered a prerequisite for going to work, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre said. Employers are encouraged to exercise discretion and allow employees to go for testing during working hours which helps to calm the flow of people. The Centre said that employers should collect information and confirm that their employees have been sampled within 24 hours (for key groups) or 48 hours (for people leaving home for work).
Before going to the NAT stations to get tested, the public must first perform a rapid antigen test (RAT) by themselves, the Centre said. If negative, they should go to the NAT station for sampling as scheduled. Upon entry into the NAT station, they must present a health code containing a RAT negative result or a photo showing a RAT negative result; otherwise, entry will be denied.
If the RAT result is positive, regardless of fever, respiratory symptoms or other discomforts, an ambulance should be called and the result reported through the Macao Health Code. The declarant and the co-living individuals must stay at home and wait to be transferred to the quarantine site. Relevant NATs will be arranged for all of them by the authorities.
All members of the public are required to take a RAT and have it declared today.
