Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long said yesterday that Macau’s current peak of COVID-19 infections, which started early last month, is now “obviously” easing.

Dr Lo made the remarks while speaking to reporters at Macau Tower after attending the opening ceremony of a smart healthcare and big health forum.

Dr Lo noted that during the current COVID-19 peak which started early last month, Macau recorded the highest daily number of new COVID-19 infections of around 900 in the second half of last month, while the daily number of new infections has dropped to around 100 to 200 over recent days.

The official number of daily infections include those reporting their COVID-19 self-test positive results on the Health Bureau’s online platform, those testing positive for COVID-19 in a nucleic acid test (NAT), as well as those seeking treatment at medical institutions whose COVID-19 self-test positive results are then reported by the doctors.

Dr Lo also said that an average of 800 or 900 people have sought treatment at the emergency department of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre every day over recent days, a decrease from around 1,300 recorded at the peak.

Dr Lo revealed that while Macau was affected by a peak of influenza in April, a new peak of COVID-19 infections hit the city last month.

The health chief underlined that both the flu and COVID-19 peaks are now declining.

However, Dr Lo said, the daily number of new patients hospitalised due to respiratory infectious diseases over recent days has still been around 20 percent more than on normal days.

Moreover, Dr Lo underlined that in recent days, the majority of the COVID-19 infectees have still been those that have a first-time infection.

However, the health chief warned that as time goes on, more and more people in Macau could be expected to be infected with the novel coronavirus for the second or even third time.

Dr Lo reaffirmed that those infected with COVID-19 for the second time will normally come down with slighter symptoms than those when they caught the novel coronavirus for the first time. Those with a second-time COVID-19 infection are less likely to suffer from serious conditions or even die of the disease compared to those with a first-time infection, the health chief said.

Dr Lo also pointed out that those with underlying diseases are more likely to have their condition worsen after having been infected with COVID-19.

Concerning the fact that some of the COVID-19 patients that were in a critical condition have been middle-aged people in the current COVID-19 peak, Dr Lo said that it might be because they had failed to seek treatment for their COVID-19 symptoms in the early stage or because they have not been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

The health chief also said that with the continuous recovery of travel across the world, the novel coronavirus is expected to constantly mutate. Consequently, Dr Lo said, the local government expects Macau to face a new “challenge” in its fight against COVID-19 during the upcoming winter.

159 COVID-19 infections recorded on Tuesday

The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced in a statement yesterday that Macau recorded 159 COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, 86 down from the 245 infections reported on Monday.

According to the statement, six new COVID-19 patients were admitted to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre on Tuesday for treatment.

Consequently, a total of 172 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to treatment facilities between May 1 and June 13.

Before the latest COVID-19 fatality was recorded on Sunday, Macau had not recorded any COVID-19 fatalities for 11 days in a row, from May 31 to June 10.

Macau’s official COVID-19 death toll now stands at 123. 

Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long talks to reporters at Macau Tower yesterday. – Photo courtesy of TDM