In an effort to manage a recent coronavirus outbreak, Macau has prolonged its citywide lockdown until July 22. The government has also given struggling firms an additional 10 billion patacas (HK$9.7 billion) in handouts.
Authorities in the casino district declared non-essential companies must stay closed until the following Friday. Initially, the lockdown was supposed to end on Sunday. Residents have been advised to stay indoors unless they want to get emergency supplies and anyone going outdoors is needed to use authorised face protection, such as KN95 or N95 masks.
In accordance with the national ‘dynamic-zero’ Covid-19 plan, which intended to close down transmission lines as they were detected, officials said that Macau made headway in preventing the spread of the virus with its lockdown this week. On Saturday, the city reported 31 local cases, bringing the total to 2,030.
However, both lawmakers and locals voiced frustration over the extension of the lockdown. ‘I feel very frustrated … from when the outbreak started on June 18, it has been almost one month. Everybody has been finding it hard to keep going’, legislator Ron Lam U-tou said.
Lam criticised the government for how it handled the pandemic and the lockdown, claiming that the testing of hotel guests was inadequately done and those children with special needs were not given special consideration while screening procedures were being set up. ‘Any of these pandemic measures will need the support of most people in order to be effective, but I think the government has done poorly in this regard. I also think that the complaints from residents are increasing and they are very dissatisfied’, he said.
Post Your Comments