2020-02-27 04:13 Comment:0
During yesterday’s press conference at the bureau adjacent to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, Leong elaborated on the new measure, which was first briefly announced in Tuesday night’s statement.
The Health Bureau’s (SSM) Control of Communicable Diseases and Surveillance of Diseases Department Coordinator Leong Iek Hou addresses yesterday’s press conference at the bureau about the city’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. Photo: GCS
Leong said that if arrivals who had been in South Korea 14 days before their intended entry into Macau are found to have a fever or respiratory symptoms will be taken to the public hospital.
According to Leong, those arrivals who do not show any symptoms but had been in any of South Korea’s high-risk regions or venues, namely the city of Daegu and North Gyeongsang province, and the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, will be taken to the Public Health Clinical Centre in Coloane for 14-days quarantine.
Local residents who have not been in any of the high-risk regions in South Korea can choose to go into the 14-day quarantine in their home, while non-locals – namely visitors or non-resident workers – have to stay under the 14-day medical surveillance in the “specified” hotel – Pousada Marina Infante – and pay a fee, Leong said.
Leong said that non-locals who are unwilling to accept the 14-day quarantine can choose not to enter Macau.
Inês Chan Lou, who heads the Licensing and Inspection Department of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), said during yesterday’s press conference that non-locals who have to stay under the 14-day medical surveillance due to the new measure – which started to be implemented at midday yesterday – will also have to pay the same fee of 5,600 patacas.
Police spot checks
Leong said that residents have to sign a document indicating that they agree to go into 14-days home quarantine. The document lists the requirements they must follow during their home quarantine. SSM officials will regularly phone the residents who are staying under the medical surveillance to ask them questions about their health status, Leong said, adding that Public Security Police (PSP) officers will carry out spot checks to see whether the person concerned is staying at home during the quarantine period.
Leong said that those in home quarantine found to have breached the official requirements will be moved to mandatory quarantine at Pousada Marina Infante and be held criminally responsible.
According to Leong, the official home quarantine requirements include: 1) the person is not allowed to go out or go to work or school, and 2) the person must have his or her own bedroom to stay alone and sleep there without any other family member in the room. Leong said that if the person considers that his or her family flat cannot meet certain requirements, such as that the person does not have his or her own bedroom, they can choose to opt for 14-day quarantine at Pousada Marina Infante, in which case they will be exempted from paying the 5,600-pataca fee.
For residents who have to go into the 14-day home quarantine, Leong said that SSM officials will not visit their home to check whether the flat meets the official requirements, and instead it is up to the person concerned to decide whether his or her family flat meets the requirements, before opting for home or hotel quarantine.
Locals can fly from S Korea to HK en route to Macau
Meanwhile, Chan announced during yesterday’s press conference a measure taken in collaboration with the Hong Kong government, according to which Macau residents stranded in South Korea will be able to return to Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) after flying back to Hong Kong from South Korea.
There are currently no flights between Macau and South Korea. The Hong Kong government currently bans anyone – except Hong Kong residents – flying from South Korea from entering Hong Kong.
According to Chan, under the measure, Macau residents who are in South Korea have to register by calling the Macau government’s Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) on 2833 3000. Afterwards, the office will pass each resident’s ID information and flight information to the local police, who will then pass the information to Hong Kong’s Immigration Department and the relevant airline, only when will the local resident be able to catch the flight to Hong Kong.
Macau’s Immigration Department is run by the Public Security Police (PSP).
According to Chan, under the arrangement between the Macau and Hong Kong governments, after a Macau resident arrives at Hong Kong’s airport from South Korea, they will be transported by the Macau government from there to Macau via the delta bridge.
Chan said that the local Tourism Crisis Management Office has sent SMSes to mobile phones in South Korea being used by Macau residents, informing them about the new measure.
Chan revealed that the government has so far received 12 requests for help from local residents stranded in South Korea.