Macau backtracks on daily Covid-19 test for Filipinos

MACAU has slightly retreated from its earlier order for all Philippine nationals to undergo daily Covid-19 testing, Macau media reported.

The Novel Coronavirus Coordination and Response Centre of Macau’s Health Bureau made the announcement Sunday night in a press conference, saying Filipinos are no longer considered “high-risk ” key groups.

Filipinos, however, would still be required to undergo nucleic acid testing (NAT) every other day until Friday.

Leon lek Hou, head of the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Health Bureau, was quoted as saying that the decision to “adjust” was based on the results of the Filipinos’ nucleic acid testing that started Friday and the findings of the epidemiological investigations into the current outbreak latest cases.

However, those working at construction sites, security staff, cleaning staff, restaurant staff, food deliverers, public bus drivers and taxi drivers and live-out domestic helpers have been added to “high-risk groups of people.” Many of these workers are still Filipinos.

Around 13,000 domestic helpers in Macau are from the Philippines, about 55 percent of the city’s total number of maids. The numbers are not available how many are on live-out arrangements.

Starting Sunday, those belonging to seven occupation groups were required to under daily NATS.

An OFW group called Progressive Labor Union of Domestic Workers decried the Macau testing on Filipinos as “racist” and “discriminatory.”

The Consulate dismissed such claims, saying the measure is “purely a health issue.” It cited that Macau had earlier imposed a mandatory testing on other nationals like Vietnamese, Nepalese and Myanmarese workers.

Health Bureau officials noted that 171 out of the current outbreak’s then tally of 1,795 as of Wednesday are Filipinos, representing 9.5 percent of the total cases last week. Over the past two weeks, Filipinos already accounted for 24.5 percent of the community cases.

Filipino tend to meet each other “very often,” they added.

“The officials underlined that the Health Bureau’s compulsory nucleic acid testing of a certain group of nationalities had nothing to do with discrimination or labeling. The officials reaffirmed that the bureau’s decisions to classify certain groups as high-risk key groups aimed to detect hidden transmission chains, in which case possible Covid-19 carriers could receive treatment early, and death and serious cases could be prevented,” the Macau Post Daily newspaper reported.

Macau residents, including Filipinos, are encouraged to undergo self-test for Covid-19 with a rapid antigen test (RAT) kit everyday through Sunday.

Then, there will be another round of mandatory citywide NAT for everyone on Saturday and Sunday.

There are 26,400 overseas Filipino workers in Macau, representing 4 percent of the total population in the Chinese island territory.

Macau is experiencing its worst Covid cases since the pandemic began in 2020 after more than two years of successfully implementing Zero Covid policy.

The Chinese island territory now has 1,810 cases, with six reported deaths. This prompted the government to shut down businesses, including casinos, which is the main economic driver of Macau.