Dear Members and Friends of AustCham Macau
This is the ninth article for “AustCham Macau At a Glance” and when we were expecting the pandemic would slowly improve over time, there were confirmed local cases reported that triggered Macau-wide Nucleic Acid Testing Program, which definitely an experience for most of us in Macau. For those frequent travellers between Macau, Hong Kong and Mainland China, I am sure they get used to taking the test. For others like my wife and two daughters, they experienced and said it was quick and simple.
In accordance with the announcement from the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, a total of 614,465 people were tested, combined with another 101,786 people who underwent the test on their own outside the citywide testing program since 3 August, a total of 716,251 people completed testing. All the test results were “Negative”.
We all heard about the “hiccups” during the first of the three days Citywide Nucleic Acid Testing Program including system failure, long waiting queues, etc. and I am sure there are always rooms for improvement, especially this was the first time to implement the Citywide Nucleic Acid Testing Program. Having said, with the limited human resources in Macau (a long term issue for Macau), I would like to thank the support from Guangdong Province Government by sending 300 professionals to help with the testing.
On 28 July, we hosted our 13th Power Hour with David Chu FCPA (CPA Aust.) being our speaker who share useful information on the Implications of the Proposed Changes to Australian Tax Residency Rules and I received great feedbacks from the audiences. With the unpredictability of the pandemic, there have been some discussions on the possibility of hosting online Power Hour sessions in the future, which would also allow us to invite subject matter experts from around the world to share industry knowledge and useful information with us.
I had my second shot in early July and as a resident in Macau, this is just one of the many things we all can do. In accordance with the data announced, there were 296,000 people vaccinated, of which 242,000 had their second shot. We are still far from reaching the required number to achieve reasonable protection, this does not mean we cannot achieve. Let’s do our part and encourage our family and friends to have their shots with a hope that things will get back to “new normal” soon.
Lastly, as always, we need your support for AustCham Macau so please join us or renew your membership today.
Kind Regards
Patrick Liu
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Australian Chamber of Commerce Macau