The skyline at night of the Macao Special Administrative Region, China Photo: IC

 
Chinese mainland test kit producers have ramped up support for COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), as the city began a new round of mass testing for all residents starting from Monday in battling against new outbreak.

As the Macao SAR is striving to rein in the epidemic with an eight-day series of tests for its more than 680,000 people, several major suppliers of nucleic acid and antigen detection products in the mainland are beefing up efforts to offer their support, the Global Times learned.

Sansure Biotech, a test kit maker in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, told the Global Times on Tuesday that it delivered a large batch of test kits to Macao in early July, and some technical personnel were dispatched there to support the testing work.

In addition to test kits, the mainland has sent a total of 650 medical workers to Macao to help the SAR carry out the latest round of mass testing, according to China News Service earlier this month.

With strong support from the mainland, the Macao SAR can conduct tests on as many as 700,000 people a day, according to China News Service.

The company noted that it is fully capable of providing for the city's extra needs. "We can immediately expand our delivery volume in ensuring the adequate supply of test kits, depending on the testing needs in Macao," a person with Sansure Biotech said.

Daan Gene, a Guangzhou-based test producer, also told the Global Times on Tuesday that it had shipped nucleic acid test kits to Macao in recent days.

The ramped-up efforts come as the city faces a new round of COVID-19 cases. Macao reported 57 new cases from its nucleic acid testing on Monday. Since June 18, a total of 1,583 nucleic acid positive test results have been found in Macao, according to media reports.

To contain the spread of COVID-19 in the community, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre of Macao SAR announced that all industries and commercial companies and venues in Macao are required to suspend operation from July 11 until July 18.

In addition to nucleic acid tests, all residents in Macao should undergo a rapid antigen test every day until July 17, and upload the test result to a designated platform.