Macao launches more COVID-19 testing as bacterial infections rise

HONG KONG: Macao kicked off a brand new round of city-wide COVID-19 testing on Monday (Jul 4) for its more than 600, 000 residents, since officials raced to contain a spiralling number of cases in the worst break out to hit the planet’s biggest gambling centre since the pandemic began.

Coronavirus testing for all inhabitants will take place three times immediately across the city, with individuals also required to get rapid antigen checks in-between.

The particular move comes as the previous Portuguese colony documented 90 new cases on Sunday, taking total number of bacterial infections to 784 since the middle of June. More than 11, 000 people are in pen.

While Macao, a Chinese particular administrative region, has not introduced a full size lockdown seen in landmass Chinese cities such as Shanghai, the city has already been largely closed.

All non-essential federal government services are close, schools, parks, sports and entertainment amenities are closed and restaurants can only offer takeaway.

Casinos are allowed to remain open but most employees have been asked to stay home, in line with instructions to the city’s inhabitants. The government said it would not shut casinos to protect jobs.

The stringent steps come after Macao has been largely COVID-free since an outbreak in October 2021.

Macao adheres to China’s “zero-COVID” policy which aims to eradicate all of the outbreaks, at just regarding any cost, working counter to a global trend of wanting to co-exist with the trojan.

Macao’s instances are still far below daily infections consist of places, including adjoining Hong Kong where cases have jumped to more than 2, 000 a day this 30 days.

However , it only has one particular public hospital, whose services are already expanded on a daily basis. The place has an open boundary with mainland China, with many residents living and working in the particular adjoining city of Zhuhai.