Macau has registered its 47th case of COVID-19 and first since June after a passenger on one of two flights bringing residents back home on Thursday tested positive upon arrival.
According to a statement issued by the government overnight, the passenger in question is a 43-year-old female who had traveled from Dubai to Singapore before landing in Tokyo where she joined the return flight back to Macau.
Although asymptomatic, she tested positive to two rapid nucleic acid tests as required for all passengers and crew. The woman was sent to Macau’s Conde de S. Januário Hospital and is now in isolation, as are eight passengers seated nearby who are awaiting the results of further tests.
There were a total of 109 passengers on the two Air Macau flights, with the rest transported on Thursday to Grand Coloane Resort to begin their 21-day mandatory hotel quarantine. As per new government guidelines, they will also be required to undergo an additional seven days of “self-health management.”
As previously reported by Inside Asian Gaming, the government implemented a “closed-loop” system for the return of the passengers to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19 into the community. There had originally been 115 passengers booked on the flight but five opted not to travel while one passenger was refused entry after testing positive ahead of the home flight.
The passengers came from several high risk countries including the United Kingdom, Portugal, Switzerland, Ireland, the United States and Japan.
