(Macao – 19 June 2022) The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, visited the Civil Protection Action Centre this morning, for updates on Macao’s new wave of COVID-19 cases. He urged all public departments to do their utmost to curb the spread of the virus, and make the safety of residents their top priority.

The Chief Executive pointed out that the latest outbreak came very suddenly, and seemed to have spread rapidly. Nevertheless, the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government had promptly taken action to designate localised ‘lockdown areas’ and ‘precautionary areas’, in accordance with level of risk of transmission, and conducted contact tracing of confirmed cases.

Meanwhile the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre began a round of city-wide nucleic acid testing for all residents, starting from 12 noon today, with the work scheduled to be completed by 12pm on 21 June.

Mr Ho added that 12 cases had been confirmed as of noon today, and more cases were expected, pending test results of close contacts.

During this morning’s work meeting at the Civil Protection Action Centre, Mr Ho asked officials from various public departments to safeguard the health of all residents, and ensure sufficient supply of fresh food and daily necessities.

The Chief Executive also inspected several nucleic acid testing stations this morning, to ensure everything was in order; and inquired about the supply of rapid antigen test kits.

As the source of the latest outbreak was still unknown, the Government is urging all residents to stay at home, to cut the chain of transmission. All businesses, except for supermarkets and grocery stores, should remain closed until further notice, and all restaurants will suspend dine-in services.

The Civil Protection Action Centre was activated at 1am today. After discussions between the Centre and its Zhuhai counterpart, it was mutually decided that people travelling from Macao to Zhuhai must from 6am today until further notice, present a certificate for a ‘negative’ nucleic acid test, with the test having been taken within the previous 24 hours, rather than within the previous seven days, as had previously applied.

Government Information Bureau  

Macao Special Administrative Region