* Jose Alvarez
While many criticize the government for implementing strict pandemic measures, local governments are very limited in what they can do, and in the end, temporary pain is better than long-term. increase. Economy.
While we talk about and praise our diversification efforts, the reality is that we haven’t yet been able to achieve it to a level where we can sustain the economy to the level we’re used to without game components.
And given its reliance on Chinese patrons, Macau cannot afford to block travel from the mainland at this time, especially if even overseas travel has not yet resumed to pre-pandemic levels. The second largest customer after Covid-19, East Asia.
Taking steps alongside the cities that are the platform of Portuguese-speaking countries, such as allowing Portuguese citizens to enter, does not give Macau the short-term rest needed, but it is not realistic. It will not be. ..
As such, mass testing and target quarantine during outbreaks remains the best solution, and the government has implemented it in a fairly effective manner (which must be acknowledged in comparison to the unfortunate situation in Shanghai and Hong Kong). not).
As a result, I have not made an approval decision on the Zero-COVID policy. As I said before, I understand the purpose of protecting lives (which can overwhelm the health system) as well, but it is seriously damaging to economic and national perceptions.
That said, no such policy has been decided at the local level. That said, I may humbly submit it.
As mentioned earlier, the problem is not local transmission, but the medical system’s inability to handle all cases of severe symptoms. In that respect, vaccination has proven to be the most effective way to reduce side effects against the virus. New antivirals work as well, but they are reactionary, not preventative.
Although the level of vaccination is very high, some of the recent positive cases were unvaccinated people, who were among the highest risk people, the elderly. If Macau has no problem in subduing people to the fear of quarantine, it is acceptable to make the lives of unvaccinated people difficult in the fight against pandemics by the same criteria.
What I have to say is that the government has made great efforts in this regard, including attending events and sporting events and forcing people to test to go to work. .. But it is shocking to see, for example, local citizens being allowed to travel to mainland China without vaccination. That said, it rarely eliminates local transmissions that are unacceptable under the policies of mainland China with which we work.
Another front line that the government can work on is to mitigate the sacrifice of Covid-19 precautions to people. Fortunately, I think the government has avoided promoting any kind of shame to those who got Covid-19, but people on social media have been very enthusiastic about them since the pandemic began. I’m out. People who are diagnosed positive are doing nothing wrong in this situation other than wanting to live their lives more than two years later.
For example, what if people attended a wedding of 400 people, not only were they allowed, but they also helped the economy and people maintain their spiritual sanity in all of this.
In that respect, it is unreasonable to publish people’s itineraries with unnecessary details. The same was said about police arrests that disclose details about each individual, who can easily select such a person in a small town like Macau.
Is it not enough to say that an individual who is positive for Covid-19 went to a particular place at a particular time? Still, some of the names mention age, gender, and nationality.
Why do we introduce the same nationality? Recently, the people of Myanmar have received unnecessary attention. In one example, the itinerary referred to an individual going home with his girlfriend. How does it help other than disclosing the most intimate details of a person’s life?
Macau has standards, one of which is respect for people’s privacy, and, apart from another opinion, such intrusions do not seem to be justified here.
Others are afraid of the idea of isolation. Personally, I would like to leave Macau for a while and wait until the restrictions are lifted. Therefore, for all kinds of isolated people who test negative, we need to allow them to leave Macau. The government is confident that it will be pleased that there is one less person to deal with. And if they come back, under current rules, they will have to pay for their own quarantine and testing, so they won’t lose much.
As I said, one has to do with a given tool, and our government has done what it can – if there is one thing the government can admire, the early stages of a pandemic. It is a preparation proved in.
Similarly, from an economic perspective, the government has taken full advantage of local resources to fill business shortages while at the same time implementing consistent financial remedies. Still, there is always room for improvement and we hope that these suggestions will be useful from a citizen’s perspective.
