Macau curbs hit home for four

Macau has prosecuted four people for leaving home for non-essential activities and not wearing masks properly as the casino hub reported 57 new Covid-19 cases on the second day of a week-long lockdown.

Under the lockdown, all casinos and non-essential services have to close from Monday to July 18.

The city's 650,000 residents are also banned from leaving home for non-essential reasons, with adults having to wear only KN95 or equivalent masks when they go out.

Before starting to prosecute people Monday evening, officers issued warnings to at least 905 people who went to parks to jog or relax, walked their dogs and failed to wear masks.

Those violating anti-Covid measures face up to two year terms and fines of 240 patacas (HK$233) per day.

Most people agreed with the strict measures, but the masking requirements were too strict for some.

"Macau is being unreasonable and unscientific for putting us in jail if we wear a wrong mask," a man said.

Macau saw 57 more cases - 24 detected in the community and 33 at quarantine facilities, taking its tally to 1,583, as it began its eighth round of mass testing. There was a Covid-linked death, a 88-year-old woman with chronic illness, making the toll three.

Hong Kong, which yesterday extended social distancing measures until July 27, saw 2,769 new infections - 2,558 local and 211 imported cases - and the death of a 94-year-old woman.

There were 369 positive reports from 285 schools, with seven cluster-hit schools suspending classes for a week.

These include three kindergartens - two classes of Learning Habitat Kindergarten in Tai Kok Tsui; class K3A of Kowloon True Light School Kindergarten Section in Kowloon City; and class K3D of The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong Cheung Wah Kindergarten in Fan Ling.

The other four are Hong Chi Shiu Pong Morninghope School in Tung Chung, Christian Alliance Toi Shan HC Chan Primary School in Ma On Shan, Hong Kong Japanese School in Wan Chai and Lung Kong WFSL Lau Wong Fat Secondary School in Tai Kok Tsui.

Four residents from two elderly homes and two disabled care homes also tested positive.

Thirty of the cases involved the Omicron BA.2.12.1 subvariant, including 19 from unknown sources, while 16 cases were of the BA.4 or BA.5 strains, of which seven were untraceable infections detected in Aberdeen, Ap Lei Chau, Tung Chung and Diamond Hill.

A daily average of five northward-bound travelers tested positive at Shenzhen Bay port. They will need to wear a smart bracelet and return to their residence for isolation.