Macao has confirmed a new case of novel coronavirus infection, taking to eight the tally of such cases recorded in the city.

The new case involves a 64-year-old female who is a local resident, and unemployed. The infection has been classified as an imported case, based on preliminary information.

On 27 January, the patient attended Conde S. Januário Hospital emergency department complaining of fever and cough. Subsequently, her condition did not improve. On 30 and 31 January, she attended Kiang Wu Hospital. During those two days, she complained of continuous fever. The patient went to Kiang Wu Hospital again on 1 February complaining of abdominal pain. After being admitted as a patient there, she underwent a computed tomography (CT) scan, which showed mild symptoms of pneumonia. In the afternoon of 1 February, she was transferred to Conde S. Januário Hospital and subsequently tested positive for the novel coronavirus. She has been placed in isolation for treatment.

From 10 to 17 January, the woman had been an in-patient at Zhuhai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, having been diagnosed with herpes zoster. She reported having purchased live poultry from a wet market in Sanxiang, Zhongshan, in Guangdong Province on 22 January and had stayed in Sanxiang from 22 to 23 January.

In terms of her current hospital treatment in Macao, the patient has moderate symptoms relative to coronavirus infection. According to her account, she had neither been in Hubei Province nor in adjacent areas; nor had she knowledge of having been in touch with any patients confirmed as being infected by the novel coronavirus. Macao’s team for disease prevention and control has been conducting a follow-up investigation of her epidemiological history and identifying people that might have had close contact with her.