A man returning to Macau from Thailand has tested positive for COVID-19 and he has been diagnosed with carrying the Delta variant, Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre has announced.

The centre classified the case as imported and asymptomatic, because of which it has not been added to Macau’s novel coronavirus tally, which therefore remains at 79.

The centre announced the COVID-19 positive case in a statement on New Year’s Day, when the man returned to Macau. The centre announced in a follow-up statement yesterday that the man was confirmed on Sunday as having been infected with Delta.

The centre identified the male patient as a 45-year-old local resident who received two shots of the AstraZeneca-Oxford adenovirus vector vaccine, in October and last month respectively.

According to the statements, the man tested negative for COVID-19 in a nucleic acid test (NAT) in Thailand on Thursday, before flying to Singapore the next day. He took a connecting flight from Singapore to Macau on Saturday where he tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arrival.

The centre said that at the time of its follow-up statement, which was released yesterday afternoon, the case was still asymptomatic as the man had not come down with any COVID-19 symptoms – because of which the case has not been added to the city’s novel coronavirus tally.

“After considering the man’s epidemiological history, clinical conditions and [COVID-19] test results, his condition has been classified as an imported and asymptomatic case, because of which it has not been classified as a confirmed COVID-19 case for Macau,” Saturday’s statement by the centre said.

Yesterday’s statement said that the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Public Health Laboratory carried out viral genome sequencing for the case, which came up with the result on Sunday confirming the man’s infection with the Delta variant.

The Macau Health Bureau began early last month to separately classify and announce asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Returnee from UK has COVID-19

Meanwhile, the centre announced in a statement late last night that a 27-year-old local woman returning from the United Kingdom has tested positive for COVID-19.

The case has also been classified as imported and asymptomatic, because of which it has not been added to Macau’s COVID-19 tally.

According to last night’s statement, the woman received two Pfizer BioNTech mRNA jabs, in April and May respectively. She tested negative for COVID-19 in a nucleic acid test in the UK on Friday. She flew to Singapore on Sunday and took a connecting flight from Singapore to Macau yesterday where she tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon arrival.

New app for facilities to record visits

Meanwhile, last week’s regular press conference by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced that the Health Bureau has completed developing a new mobile app for staff members at certain premises and venues to scan a printed version of the Macau Health Code presented by those without a smartphone so as to record that they have visited the respective premises or venues.

Currently, those without a smartphone can present a printed version of their Macau Health Code when entering certain premises and venues that require a health code, instead of showing their health code on their smartphone. A printed version of Macau Health Code is only valid on the day it is generated on a computer.

The Health Bureau rolled out the mobile app version of the Macau Health Code that contains a contact tracing function in November. The contact tracing function enables residents to record their whereabouts accurately, which will help health officials in their epidemiological investigations in case the city is hit by new local COVID-19 cases.

Contact-tracing-function QR codes are currently available at all government premises and facilities – including public medical institutions and facilities, all social service facilities, and public buses.

The website version of the Macau Health Code remains operational, which means that currently smartphone users can choose to continue using the website version or switch to the mobile app version, when generating their health code. However, the new contact tracing function is only available on the mobile app version, as mobile web browsers are unable to scan a QR code.

Last week’s press conference said that the new mobile app, which will be used by staff members at certain premises and venues, aims to enable senior citizens, children, and other individuals without a smartphone to have their whereabouts recorded. The press conference did not say when the new mobile app will come into use, but said that the respective public entities will soon tell the premises and venues how to use the new app.

Last week’s press conference also said that the new mobile app can “replace” the current practice carried out by staff members at certain premises and venues who manually record contact information of those entering them.

Last week’s press conference underlined that the staff members at the respective premises and venues will not be able to see any information of those who have had their Macau Health Code scanned. In case Macau is hit by new local COVID-19 cases, the respective premises and venues will be required to upload the scanned data, which is encrypted, onto the Health Bureau’s database.

The press conference also said that the scanned data will only be stored on the smartphones or other digital devices used by the respective premises and venues for 28 days. The records will be automatically deleted afterwards.

Bus passengers queue to be tested for COVID-19 at a bus terminal in Bangkok last week. Photo courtesy of Bangkok Post