Category Archives: Macau

The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center have issued a statement calling on people unvaccinated against Covid-19 to become inoculated as soon as possible.

The center appeals particularly to those in three different age groups to get vaccinated with urgency, claiming that the number of cases of death and severe disease has been rising in the neighboring regions, affecting children and the elderly.

In this sense, the center aims to raise the vaccination rate among three different age groups including, children from 3 to 11 years old; senior citizens with ages ranging between 70- and 79-years-old; and those aged 80-years-old and above.

Authorities said in the same statement that currently, the vaccination rates for these three groups is low. The vaccination rate for those aged between 70 and 79 years old is 45.7%, while it is a low of 6.7% for the young children group. The vaccination among the most elderly is also considered very low, at 17.9%.

According to the same health authorities, the low rates of vaccination amongst these three groups are pulling down the general vaccination rate of Macau, which now stands at 75.4%.

The authorities justify their call with the fact that the elderly and those with chronic diseases are at greater risk of contracting a serious illness, the reason for which they are considered a priority group for vaccination.

As for the children, the center stated that the risk of serious illness in children cannot be ignored either.

At midnight today the deadline given by the government for the vaccination of all civil servants that are eligible to be inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine was reached. Those that fail to comply will not be able to work, namely in job roles in which contact with the public is necessary.

According to the figures cited by the health authorities last Thursday, 83.6% of all civil servants have already received two or three doses of the vaccine and 85.6% have already received at least one dose of the vaccine.

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Health Authorities urge vaccination of three age groups - Macau Daily Times

Thousands of Iranian teachers have protested in more than 100 cities against delays in salary and pension reforms, a local newspaper reported Sunday.

The demonstrations on Saturday were the latest in a string of rallies by teachers as well as other public sector employees in recent months over the impact of soaring inflation on incomes.

Reformist newspaper Etemad said teachers demonstrated outside parliament in the capital Tehran and in front of education ministry offices in provincial capitals including Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad.

The teachers have for months demanded that the government speed up the implementation of reforms that would see their salaries better reflect their experience and performance.

Last week, Irans parliament said the new system, which has been delayed for more than a decade, will be implemented from the start of the new Iranian calendar year, which begins on March 21.

The demonstrators have also demanded that their pensions be aligned with those of other public sector employees.

Protesters moreover called on the authorities to release teachers detained in earlier protests.

The educators chanted The jailed teachers should be freed and From Tehran to Khorasan, teachers are in prison, during the protests on Saturday, according to the newspaper.

Protesters said 15 teachers were arrested during clashes with security forces across the country, according to Etemad.

Hit by biting economic sanctions imposed since 2018 by the United States, Iran has seen inflation soar to over 40 percent, exacting a heavy toll on the standard of living of public sector staff and others on fixed incomes.

Civil servants in one of Irans most powerful sectors, the judiciary, held rare demonstrations in January calling for their pay to be increased.

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Iranian teachers protest in more than 100 cities: media - Macau Business

The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has already managed to find the required number of rooms corresponding to the requirements demanded by the Health Bureau for the about 90 Macau stranded in Hong Kong to be able to undergo quarantine upon returning.

As the tally of daily confirmed Covid-19 cases in the neighbouring SAR has surpassed 1,000 cases and continues to increase, some Hong Kongs universities have decided to conduct online learning and close dormitories, pushing non-local students, which include those from Macau, to find alternative accommodation.

MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said this weekend that it was difficult to add a large number of rooms in medical observation hotels in the short term, in response to the increasing need of Macau students in Hong Kong to return to the SAR.

MGTO is discussing for a feasible measure with the health authorities and Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ), under the premise of meeting the SARs pandemic control requirements, Fernandes said, DSEDJ is collecting detailed information of the students, including the estimated time of return and the number of students planning to come back.

Due to the increasing need for hotel rooms brought by the recovery of local tourism and economy in the spring festival period, many hotels have little intention to be used as medical observation hotels, Fernandes added.

The MGTO added that since the hotels must adopt a strict closed-loop system with ventilation system and other facilities to meet the standard of the health bureau, they are less willing to be used as medical observation hotels.

Arrivals from Hong Kong, Taiwan or mainland China areas deemed to be of high risk can stay in either the Pousada Marina Infante, Grand Coloane Resort or the Regency Art Hotel, with any overseas arrivals having to complete the required 21-day quarantine at the Treasure Hotel.

One of the issues referred by Macau students currently in Hong Kong was the unavailability of being able to book a hotel room in the local quarantine hotels before the end of March.

In a statement issued today, tourism authorities added that a meeting was held with the Health Bureau, DSEDJ and the Transport Bureau (DSAT) to discuss interdepartmental collaboration in the organization of medical observation hotels to receive Macau students.

At the moment, DSEDJ is collecting data on the number of students who intend to return to Macau and the respective dates. Until this morning, it received information about the intention to return, in the near future, of about 90 students, the MGTO added.

While tourism authorities have already found the required number of quarantine rooms DSAT is dealing with issues related to student transport from Hong Kong to Macau.

The DSEDJ sent messages to the aforementioned students, reminding them of the need to inform them, as soon as possible and through the DSEDJ system, about their intention to return to Macau, as well as their return plan, if any, so that the related services can make an organization in accordance with the situation and concrete data.

*With Therese Tu

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Tourism authorities have arranged the required quarantine rooms for Macau students stranded in HK - Macau Business

A 51-year-old Hong Kong non-resident worker who entered Macau from Hong Kong on February 11 has been classified as a new asymptomatic Covid-19 case.

The person in question received three doses of the Sinopharm vaccine. He denied any history of infection.

This person currently does not suffer from symptoms of coronavirus infection and, in conjunction with his epidemiological history, clinical picture and test results has been classified as an imported case of asymptomatic infection and not as a confirmed case of coronavirus infection.

Hong Kong in recent weeks has clamped down even further as coronavirus case numbers tick up under an Omicron-fuelled wave.

The city confirmed a record 2,071 new coronavirus cases and reported more than 4,500 preliminary infections on Monday.

Gatherings of more than two people are now forbidden and flight bans from several countries including Britain and the United States have been extended.

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Hong Kong arrival reported as new asymptomatic positive case - Macau Business

Vietnam will lift coronavirus restrictions on international flights for fully vaccinated passengers from Tuesday, the countrys aviation authority said in a statement.

The communist nation has virtually closed itself to the world since March 2020 due to the pandemic, dealing a severe blow to its vital tourism sector.

Authorities have slowly eased the curbs in recent months, with visitors trickling in under a bubble arrangement since November.

Starting Tuesday (1700 GMT Monday), Vietnam will lift restrictions on passenger carriage on scheduled flights and non-scheduled flights, the civil aviation authority said.

The statement, released Sunday, did not say how many flights would be allowed to enter, but indicated arrivals could be permitted to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Anyone wanting to enter Vietnam must be fully vaccinated and will have to observe a three-day quarantine, either at home or in a hotel, according to regulations.

Travellers must still abide by existing entry-exit regulations and pre-pandemic healthcare requirements, the authority said.

More than 90 percent of adults in the country have received two Covid-19 vaccine doses. The government is considering inoculating young teenagers as it accelerates the rollout of booster shots.

Vietnam is currently reporting around 20,000 new daily cases, and has recorded more than 2.5 million infections with nearly 39,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

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Vietnam to lift Covid-19 restrictions on international flights - Macau Business

Google once used the slogan dont be evil to distinguish itself from its competitors, but now a growing number of pro-privacy startups are rallying to the mantra dont be Google.

They aretaking on Google Analytics, a product used by more than half of the worldswebsites to understand peoples browsing habits.

Google made a lot of good tools for a lot of people, says Marko Saric, a Dane living in Belgium who set up Plausible Analytics in Estonia in 2019.

But over the years they changed their approach without really thinking what is right, what is wrong, what is evil, what is not.

Saric and many others are benefitting from GDPR, a European privacy regulation introduced in 2018 to control who can access personal data.

Last week, France followed Austria in declaring Googles practice of transferring personal data from the EU to its US servers was illegal under GDPR because the country does not have adequate protections.

Google disagrees, saying the data is anonymised and the scenarios envisaged in Europe are hypothetical.

Nevertheless, startups see an opening in a true David vs Goliath battle.

The week that Google Analytics was ruled illegal by the Austrian DPA (data protection authority) was a good week for us, says Paul Jarvis, who runs Fathom Analytics from his home in Vancouver Island, Canada.

He says new subscriptions tripled over that week, though he does not give exact numbers.

Google dominates the analytics market with 57 percent of all websites using its service, according to survey group W3Techs. The best-established privacy-focused tool, Matomo, accounts for one percent of websites.

The smaller players know they are not going to overturn Googles domination, rather their aim is to inject a bit of fairness and choice into the market.

The supercharging moment for pro-privacy software developers came in 2013 when former CIA contractorEdward Snowden revealed how US security agencies were engaged in mass surveillance.

We already knew some of it, says Matomo founder Matthieu Aubry. But when he came out, we had proof that we werent just paranoid or making stuff up.

Snowden showed how the US National Security Agency, aided by a system of secret courts, was able to gather personal data from users of websites including Google, Facebook and Microsoft.

Snowdens revelations helped to solidify support across Europe for its new privacy regulation and inspired software developers to make privacy central to their products.

The first thing the startups have taken aim at is the sheer complexity of Google Analytics.

You have 1,000 different dashboards and all this data, but it doesnt help you if you dont understand it, says Michael Neuhauser, who launched Fair Analytics last month.

Jarvis, who had previously trained people to use Google Analytics, describes it asa behemoth.

Unlike Google, the privacy-focused products do not use cookies to track users around the web and offer a much simpler array of data, helping them to keep within the boundaries of GDPR.

And they all make this a key selling point on their websites.

But making a living from these tools is no mean feat.

Saric of Plausibleand Jarvis of Fathom both sank time and money into their projects before they could pay themselves a wage.

Both firms still operate with a startup mentality tiny teams working remotely across countries having direct contact with clients.

Aubry, who founded Matomo in 2007 when he was in his early 20s, remembers being in a similar position.

For a long time, we didnt even have a business around the project, it was pure community, says the Frenchman from his home in Wellington, New Zealand.

But he says his firm now has global reach and he wants to help create an alternative internet not dominated by big tech.

His peers are at a much earlier stage but they certainly agree with the sentiment.

Jarvis reckons anyone switching from a big tech product is a win for privacy and helps to create a fairer system.

But a huge barrier remains: Google can afford to offer its tools for free, whereas the smaller firms need clients to pay, even if just a few dollars a month.

The privacy-focused firms say it is time to overhaul our understanding of these transactions.

All of these free products that we use and love, were not paying for them with money, were paying for them with data and privacy, says Jarvis.

We charge money for our product because its just a more honest business model.

by Joseph BOYLE

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'Don't be Google': The rise of privacy focused startups - Macau Business

The tourist accommodation sector recorded 37.5 million overnight stays in 2021, more thanin 2020, but the lowest number since 2010 if 2020 is excluded, according to StatisticsPortugal (INE).

Also in 2021 as a whole, 14.5 million guests were recorded, up 39.4% compared to 2020, but down 46.4% compared to 2019, according to data releasedon Mondayby INE.

The 37.5 million overnight stays mean 45.2% more compared to 2020 and 46.6% less compared to 2019. INE said, excluding 2020, you have to go back to 2010, when 37.4 million overnight stays were recorded, to find a lower number of overnight stays.

This preliminary data for 2021 was released today by INE, according to which the pandemic context did not only affect the level of tourism activity, and there was a monthly distribution of results different from the characteristic seasonal pattern.

In 2021, INE saidthatcontrary to usual, it was not the summer months (July to September), but rather the months of August to October that recorded the highest number of overnight stays (49.6% of total overnight stays).

In December alone, 1.1 million guests and 2.6 million overnight stays were recorded, up 150.0% and 170.4% compared to the same month of 2020, but less than in December 2019.

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Portugal: Tourist accommodation recovered in 2021, still well below pre-pandemic - Macau Business

The US Department of Agriculture said Monday it had detected bird flu in two more farms after a first case came to light last week, putting the industry on guard.

After having already detected the virus in wild birds on several occasions on the east coast in recent weeks, the department said on February 9 it had found the disease in birds on a farm in Indiana.

On Monday it reported that two more farms had been affected, in Kentucky and Virginia.

The authorities have placed the sites in quarantine and the birds will be slaughtered to avoid possible spread throughout the country, which according to the USDA is the largest producer of poultry in the world.

No cases have been detected in humans so far and the disease does not present an immediate public health threat, authorities said.

But the agricultural sector will remain vigilant to avoid a repeat of the 2015 avian flu outbreak, which affected 211 farms in 15 states, from California to Indiana.

During that flare-up, nearly 50 million birds were killed and their carcasses destroyed, and several countries suspended US imports. The department put total losses at about $3.3 billion.

After the first case was discovered in Indiana last week, Mexico and China moved quickly to limit imports from that state.

A spokesman for the National Chicken Council said in an email to AFP that any detection of the virus was worrying but said the control and monitoring program put in place by the authorities is the most robust in the world.

Tyson Foods, one of the largest chicken producers in the United States, said when it released its results on February 7 that it had already increased preventative measures, in particular on the east coast of the United States.

The group has limited the number of visits to its farms and increased cleaning time for vehicles traveling to them.

Europe is already experiencing an avian flu outbreak, with more than 18 million birds slaughtered in Italy and around three million in France since the first cases detected in farms at the end of November.

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US farms on alert as several cases of bird flu found - Macau Business

Another relative of a teenage girl thought to have been murdered in Italy last year by her Pakistani family was arrested Monday in Spain, Spanish and Italian police said.

Spanish police arrested a cousin of 18-year-old Saman Abbas at an apartment near Barcelona in a joint operation carried out with Italian police, a spokesman for Spains National Police said.

He was detained this morning, he said.

Italian police identified him as 34-year-old Nomanulhaq Nomanulhaq, who is suspected of being jointly responsible for the kidnapping, murder and concealment of the body of Abbas.

Another cousin and the young womans uncle were both arrested in France and extradited to Italy last year over her death, while Samans parents are still fugitives in Pakistan.

The case has sparked outrage in Italy and has become front page news since police began investigating the teenagers disappearance in May. Her body has yet to be found.

Abbas, who lived in the northern Italian town of Novellara, in 2020 refused her familys plan to have her marry a cousin in their home country of Pakistan.

While still a minor, she turned to social services and in November 2020 was moved into a shelter home. She also reported her parents to police, but in April 2021 returned to them.

Police began searching for her on May 5, when officers visited her house and found nobody.

Officers then discovered that the girls parents had left for Pakistan without her, and found images from a nearby security camera that made them fear the worst.

Late on April 29, five people could be seen walking off from the house holding shovels, a crowbar and a bucket, and returning after about two-and-a-half hours.

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Spain arrests cousin over teen's disappearance in Italy - Macau Business

Boeing announced Monday that it achieved an annual record for e-commerce parts sales in 2021 with more than 2 billion U.S. dollars in online orders.

Boeing Distribution Inc. (formerly Aviall) sold nearly 70,000 parts products through its e-commerce site to commercial and government customers, eclipsing pre-pandemic levels. Commercial orders accounted for 1.5 billion dollars in sales, reflecting the continued recovery in the airline industry, the company said.

Boeing Distribution Inc.s online revenue last year was 15 percent higher compared to pre-pandemic levels, while orders were 20 percent higher. The stronger sales came as the company rolled out new tools to improve the customer experience, including a new homepage, a live chat feature, and an online knowledge center, according to the announcement.

The refreshed e-commerce parts website, which features over 500,000 products, saw 5 million visits from 50 countries last year.

Our 2 billion U.S. dollars closeout to 2021 was a great capstone as the market heads to a more stable recovery, said Ted Colbert, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Global Services. Our e-commerce capabilities are a great example of the digital solutions we provide to enable industry recovery and growth.

In addition to launching new digital tools, we are creating a more streamlined process for our customers by realigning strategy, program, and product line management with supply chain and customer support, said William Ampofo, vice president of Parts, Distribution Services, and Supply Chain at Boeing Global Services.

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Boeing reaches annual record of 2 bln USD e-commerce sales - Macau Business