‘Red’ zone status – meaning no movement in or out – has been placed on a building in the Fai Chi Kei district of Macau peninsula, after a 66-year-old local woman was detected with Covid-19 infection via routine-sample testing initially done on the mainland side of the border, in Zhuhai. The infection has been classified as an “imported” case by the Macau authorities.
The confirmation of her infection was announced at noon on Wednesday by Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre. It followed a routine testing of 10 samples in Zhuhai, Guangdong province – eight of them submitted by people from Macau – that produced evidence of one ‘positive’. As a result, the eight Macau people were tested again after their return to Macau, with so far only the 66-year-old woman identified as ‘positive’.
According to the guidelines of Macau’s response centre, those who are either residents in a building or zone of concern, work nearby, or have been in the vicinity for more than 30 minutes, have to take a Covid-19 test for three consecutive days, starting from the day an alert is given.
At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, the head of the city’s Health Bureau, Alvis Lo Iek Long, said the identification of this new Covid-19 case in Macau would “not set back” the plan gradually to resume – likely from November – package tours and e-visas for mainland China tourists.
The latter was a reference mainly to China’s Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) exit visas for independent travellers to come to Macau. It is one form of independent-travel visa set to return to an electronic issuance system, rather than in-person issuance. The latter system is said to be slower in terms of approvals.
At the briefing, Liz Lam Tong Hou of the Macao Government Tourism Office said her organisation was “diligently working” with the city’s travel trade to be ready to welcome tour groups from the mainland in the near future.
On June 18, Macau saw the start of its worst community outbreak of Covid-19 since the advent of the pandemic. A total of 1,821 cases was recorded up to July 29. Macau casinos had been affected by a 12-day shutdown in July, linked to the community alert.
(Updated at 9.25pm, Oct 26)
