The Health Bureau’s (SSM) Control of Communicable Diseases and Surveillance of Diseases Department Coordinator Leong Iek Hou said at Thursday’s press conference that from 6 am today all arrivals who have been in Nantang town of Lufeng city in Guangdong province within the 14 days prior to their entry into Macao must undergo 14 days of quarantine and medical observation at one of the government’s “quarantine hotels”. This is because the mainland health authorities have classified the town as a COVID-19 “medium-risk” area.
The Guangdong Health Commission announced on Friday last week that a woman in Lufeng’s Nantang town was confirmed as a COVID-19 patient after returning there from Shenzhen. The woman, who worked at a supermarket in Shenzhen, returned home by bus on 6 August. Since the woman’s case, four people in the town and three people in Shenzhen have tested positive for COVID-19, all classified as asymptomatic cases.
According to Xinhua, asymptomatic cases refer to people who have tested positive for COVID-19 but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough and sore throat, yet they are infectious and pose a risk of spreading to others.
Unlike Macao where all those who have tested positive for COVID-19 are classified as confirmed COVID-19 patients – regardless of whether they have come down with COVID-19 symptoms – the mainland health authorities separately classify asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Guangdong had not confirmed a new local COVID-19 case for over three months before the new confirmed COVID-19 case in Lufeng, a county-level city administered by the eastern city of Shanwei.
During Thursday’s press conference, Leong said that as the mainland heath authorities have upgraded Lufeng’s Nantang town to a COVID-19 “medium-risk” area, the Macao government has also decided to classify the town as a “medium-risk” area accordingly and impose its 14-day quarantine for arrivals from there.
The Lufeng health authorities announced on Thursday that Nantang town has been upgraded to a COVID-19 “medium-risk” area as the town has reported one confirmed case and four asymptomatic cases.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
