No local novel coronavirus case for a year

Addressing yesterday’s weekly press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus situation, the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Control of Communicable Diseases and Surveillance of Diseases Department Coordinator Leong Iek Hou announced that a local female resident who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus again during her quarantine at the bureau’s quarantine facility in Coloane after returning from the United Kingdom – where she had previously been confirmed as a COVID-19 patient – to Macau early this month has been found to carry the N501Y variant.

According to Leong, it is Macau’s first case of detection of the N501Y variant, the mutant strain spreading in Britain that is more contagious.

The Health Bureau has not classified the 24-year-old female as a COVID-19 case for Macau – despite the fact that she tested positive for COVID-19 again in a nucleic acid test (NAT) last week following her negative results in a number of tests.

The Health Bureau says the fact that some COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital or asymptomatic carriers of the novel coronavirus have later tested positive for the virus again is “merely a phenomenon”, which means that they do not have a relapse, i.e. suffering COVID-19 symptoms again.

The 24-year-old, who is studying in the UK, is among the 15 local residents who returned to Macau on March 7 from Europe and the United States via Taipei, according to a Health Bureau announcement last week.

According to last week’s announcement, the woman was confirmed as a COVID-19 patient in the UK on January 6 because of which she underwent home quarantine. She tested negative for COVID-19 in a nucleic acid test on February 25 and in another test on March 3 in Britain, before departing from London on March 6 to Macau via Paris and Taipei. The student tested negative for COVID-19 in a nucleic acid test upon her arrival at the local airport on March 7, after which she was taken to one of the government’s “quarantine hotels” for her 21-day quarantine and medical observation.

According to last week’s SSM announcement, the woman tested negative for COVID-19 in two more nucleic acid tests which were taken on March 12 and 19. She had her sample collected for a serology test on March 20, which came up with a result on Wednesday last week showing that she tested negative for IgM antibodies but positive for IgG antibodies, because of which she was then transferred to the Health Bureau’s Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane for medical observation and follow-up COVID-19 tests.

The woman still tested negative for COVID-19 in a follow-up nucleic acid test on Wednesday last week after being taken to the Public Health Clinical Centre, but tested positive for the virus again in another nucleic acid test on Friday, according to last week’s announcement.

Not classified as Macau COVID-19 patient

Last week’s announcement said that the Health Bureau had decided not to classify the 24-year-old as a COVID-19 case for Macau, considering that she had tested negative for COVID-19 in several nucleic acid tests since returning to Macau after having previously been confirmed as a COVID-19 patient elsewhere, apart from the fact that she had not come down with any COVID-19 symptoms after returning to Macau. Consequently, the announcement said, the woman’s case is one in which a person “later tested positive for the novel coronavirus again”.

During yesterday’s press conference, Leong briefed the media about the information of the 24-year-old student mentioned in last week’s SSM announcement. Leong also said the student’s nucleic acid test result on Friday showed that she was carrying the N501Y variant, adding that it is the first case in which the UK variant has been found in Macau.

Leong also said that the student, who is in a stable condition, has not come down with any COVID-19 symptoms.

‘Good news to share’

Meanwhile, Tai Wa Hou, the coordinator of the Health Bureau’s COVID-19 vaccination programme, told yesterday’s press conference that the government now has “good news to share with everybody”, which is that Macau has not recorded a new local COVID-19 case for a year – i.e. 365 consecutive days. He pointed out that this came after Macau’s last hospitalised COVID-19 patient was discharged last Wednesday, bringing the number of the city’s hospitalised COVID-19 patients “back to zero again”.

Macau has recorded 48 COVID-19 cases since January 22 last year, 46 of which have been classified as imported, while two cases have been classified as “connected to imported cases”. The last discharged patient was Macau’s 47th COVID-19 patient.

No COVID-19 fatalities have been reported in Macau, which has been spared a community transmission of the novel coronavirus disease, Tai noted.

Macau has not recorded a new COVID-19 case for 51 days.

Macau ‘deserves to be proud’

Tai said that everybody in Macau “deserves to be proud” of the city’s great achievement in its COVID-19 prevention and control work, adding that, more importantly, people in Macau should “cherish” this great achievement. This, he said, indicates that the local government’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures have proved to be effective.

Tai also underlined that Macau’s “hard-won” COVID-19 prevention and control achievement is the result of the joint efforts by the local government, various segments of civil society and all residents, urging residents not to let their guard down in COVID-19 prevention considering the still serious COVID-19 pandemic globally.

Tai warned that Macau is now facing an increased risk of COVID-19 community transmission as more residents have been returning to Macau from overseas, as indicated by a number of cases in which returnees “have later tested positive for the novel coronavirus again” after having previously been confirmed as a COVID-19 patient elsewhere.

According to last week’s SSM statement, in addition to the 24-year-old female resident enrolled in the UK, a four-year-old girl who returned to Macau on March 7 from San Francisco via Paris and Taipei also tested positive for the novel coronavirus again in a follow-up nucleic acid test on Friday.

Tai pledged that the government will continue to do a good job in its “normalised” COVID-19 prevention work with the aim of consolidating Macau’s achievement in its fight against COVID-19, calling for residents to show understanding of the government’s strict COVID-19 prevention measures, which he said might cause “inconvenience” to residents.

Meanwhile, Tai also underlined that individuals and associations are allowed to organise events and activities as long as they can ensure strict adherence to the Health Bureau’s COVID-19 prevention requirements. He made the remarks when asked by the media about his bureau’s request to cancel Sunday’s protest march against the government’s controversial consumption e-voucher scheme.

Meanwhile, next week’s regular Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre press conference will be rescheduled from Monday to Wednesday due to the government’s Ching Ming Festival and Easter holidays.

Tai Wa Hou (left), the coordinator of the Health Bureau’s (SSM) COVID-19 vaccination programme, speaks during yesterday’s press conference about the city’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, as SSM Control of Communicable Diseases and Surveillance of Diseases Department Coordinator Leong Iek Hou looks on. Photo: Tony Wong