News

In order to speed up the detection of novel coronavirus, the University of Macau (UM) has stepped up the development of a digital-microfluidic-chip-based system to help tackle the epidemic outbreak. With the help of ‘Virus Hunter’, a rapid test kit developed with UM patented technology, the whole virus detection process can be completed within 30 minutes. The study was conducted by a team formed by researchers from UM’s State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI (AMS-VLSI) and PhD graduates. The research team has been in touch with relevant medical units and the system will be ready for use upon verification.
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The Government will waive – for a period of three months – rents otherwise payable on public properties used by local businesses, in order to strengthen support for local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the ongoing fight against the local incidence of a novel coronavirus.
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According to preliminary statistics, Macao welcomed around 260 thousand visitor arrivals (non-resident employees and students excluded) during the seven-day Spring Festival Golden Week of Mainland China (24 to 30 January), down by 78.3% over the corresponding period of last year.
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All higher education institutions in Macao have further postponed class resumption as a response to the continuation of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The University of Macau (UM) has been dedicated to promoting online teaching and learning. For this reason, UM students can continue to engage in learning via distance education resources, such as massive open online courses (MOOC) platforms, to keep acquiring knowledge during class suspension.
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CTT Macao would like to inform that the underneath post offices will be opened during the normal office hours on 1^stof February 2020, while the other post offices will be closed temporarily:
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In response to the further development of the new coronavirus epidemic, Social Welfare Bureau has previously coordinated various funded social service facilities to make arrangements for continuous operation, limited operation and suspension of operation respectively according to their service nature. Social Welfare Bureau appeals continuous and limited operation of social service facilities, depending on the actual number of people using the services, basic requirements of service operation and other specific factors, to properly adjust the number of personnel on duty and work arrangements, avoid cluster activities or meetings, and reduce the risk of infection caused by crowd gathering; and all suspended social service facilities, unless necessary, should try to keep staff at home without returning to the facility.
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The novel coronavirus outbreak has received a lot of attention worldwide as the number of confirmed cases and deaths continue to climb and isolated cases are being reported abroad. In the meantime, mental health care for those affected by the outbreak, including confirmed coronavirus patients, suspected patients, quarantined family members, and medical personnel, has been under-addressed. A study conducted by the research team of Prof Xiang Yutao from the University of Macau (UM) Faculty of Health Sciences draws attention to this issue and has been recognised by the authoritative international journal Lancet Psychiatry. Titled ‘Timely Mental Health Care for the 2019-nCoV Outbreak is Urgently Needed’, the paper draws experience from global epidemic outbreaks in the past and discusses the importance of initiating mental health assessment, treatment, and interventions as part of the anti-epidemic campaign against the novel coronavirus outbreak.
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The Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) is paying close attention to the possibility of a Macao resident having manifested symptoms compatible with the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia on a cruise in Italy.
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Due to the continued development of the novel coronavirus epidemic, to ensure the health of students and teaching staff, avoid gathering of large crowds, prevent the epidemic from further spreading, the SAR Government has announced that the date of class resumption of various tertiary education institutions, secondary and primary schools and kindergartens, as well as the operation resumption dates of private tutorial centres and continuing education institutions will further be postponed. The arrangements for class resumption will be announced one week before the resumption. Parents are expected to understand the relevant measures for protecting students’ health and cooperate in doing the epidemic prevention work well.
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In response to the current outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the Higher Education Bureau (DSES) will cancel the ‘2019/2020 Macau Higher Education Institute Basketball Competition’ and ‘2019/2020 Macau Higher Education Institute Badminton Competition’; ‘The Phase I: Basic Course in Portuguese(Lunar New Year Class)’ originally scheduled to be held on February 3 will be postponed until further notice. The Higher Education Bureau (DSES) will keep paying close attention to the situation and make proper arrangements promptly.
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