The newly completed School of Nursing Building of the Islands Medical Complex – located in Cotai – will be used by health authorities as a temporary isolation centre for those under medical observation due to close contact with patients infected with the novel coronavirus or are considered at high risk.
The health authorities announced that 26 people moved into the new complex today.
The announcement was made today at the daily press conference, coming at a time when there have been 38 confirmed cases in Macau (28 in hospital, 10 released) and 36 people in isolation for being considered close contacts of patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
“The provisional isolation centre will occupy starting from the 11th up to the 15th floor of the building (Instituto de Enfermagem no Complexo Hospitalar das Ilhas).
“We will have 96 rooms with 192 beds,” said Lo Iek Long, a clinical director of the public hospital, Conde de S. Januário Hospital Centre.
“With the provisional isolation zone in Cotai, we can reserve the 112 beds at Alto de Coloane Centre solely for confirmed cases with mild symptoms,” Lo added.
According to Radio Macau, Lo said that the decision to create another isolation space frees up the Coloane unit to receive only patients with COVID-19, but this does not mean that the authorities expect a significant increase in cases.
“We have to be prepared. We cannot open a new facility only when there is a high number of patients. I cannot say whether we will have many or few cases tomorrow – what I can say is that we have the capacity to face the total number of patients that we will register,” he explained.
Of the new cases registered, only one is considered serious. The 50-year-old woman has been in critical condition since Sunday, with a serious lung infection.
Macau currently has 72 ventilators, a number considered sufficient by the Health Services.
