Macau authorities have urged citizens to be “rational” when buying food and daily necessities after reports of a resurgence of cases sparked lockdown fears and panic buying across the city.

In its first outbreak in eight months over the weekend, Health Director Alvis Lo Iek-long said the number of infections has increased to 36 as of 4pm on Monday, including 25 women and 11 men aged between eight months and 89. Three more samples tested preliminary positive, he added.

Residents have been stocking up on fresh food, canned and frozen goods, as well as other daily necessities since Sunday.

Macau's Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) and the Consumer Council said that supplies are sufficient, and supermarkets and other businesses are speeding up supply chain velocity to meet the needs of citizens.

A number of supermarkets have reported that supplies are sufficient, and that the amount of high-demand products such as canned and frozen food will be restocked as soon as possible.

The DSEDT has also requested that a total of 286 branches of 35 supermarkets and department stores in Macau impose temporary purchasing restrictions to ensure that food supply remains stable.

According to statistics provided by suppliers, stocks of rice, oil, and shelf stable foods are sufficient. As of June, Macau has an inventory stock of 1.67 million kilograms of rice and 750,000 liters of cooking oil, which is enough to feed Macau for one month.

Separately, Macau health officials said the city has so far had two infection clusters. One of them, in addition to the 13 foreign employees, infected also colleagues working in the same restaurant, diners, staff living in the same building and employers of foreign domestic workers.

The second cluster included mainly a family of prison staff, their relatives, as well as a person living in the same building and a child who was in the same fever clinic.

According to the latest investigation, one of the foreign workers in cluster two, who was confirmed in Zhuhai, worked at a barbecue shop at R. da Emenda, where another foreign worker in cluster one often passed by.

Meanwhile, a relative of the prison staff in cluster two worked at a fruit stall across the street from the barbecue shop.

Macau Covid case resurgence sparks panic buying