Lo Iek Long, a clinical director of the public hospital, announced during Sunday’s press conference that the condition of a COVID-19 patient undergoing treatment at the public hospital – Macau’s 18th patient who was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease on March 21 – has become “serious”.
Macau had confirmed 37 COVID-19 cases until on Sunday evening’s press conference. The local government confirmed another COVID-19 case last night, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 38 late last night.
According to Lo, the patient in a “serious” condition, a 50-year-old local woman, returned to Macau on a flight from New York to Hong Kong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) on March 21. Upon arrival at the Macau checkpoint of the bridge, Health Bureau officials detected that she had a fever (38 degrees Celsius), after which she was taken to the public hospital, where she tested positive for the novel coronavirus that night.
According to previous government announcements, the 18th COVID-19 patient travelled to the United States late last month to visit her two sons and a daughter who are studying there and returned to Macau with the trio on March 21. One of the woman’s three children – a 19-year-old local man – was also confirmed to have been infected with the novel coronavirus disease the next day – March 22, becoming Macau’s 19th COVID-19 patient.
Macau’s first COVID-19 patient in serious condition
The woman has become Macau’s first COVID-19 patient in a serious condition.
According to Lo, the 50-year-old woman told doctors at the public hospital that she came down with a mild cough on March 18 and an “itchy” throat on March 20. On March 21, the first day of treatment at the public hospital, the hospital immediately treated the woman with antivirals and interferon. Three days later, the woman’s CT scan showed that her pneumonia had become more serious, so doctors increased the amount of the hormone used to treat her, Lo said. The woman, however, came down with dyspnoea and hypoxemia on Sunday, after which she received oxygen treatment.
Lo said that the woman’s CT scan on Sunday showed that her pneumonia had further deteriorated. Based on the standards formulated by the National Health Commission (NHC), the woman has been classified as being a COVID-19 patient in a serious condition, Lo said.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
PHOTO © Government Information Bureau (GCS)
