For the past ten days, Macau has been hit by a series of Covid-19 infections. After conducting a massive screening campaign, it announced new restrictive measures on Thursday, June 23, to combat the spread of the disease as much as possible.
Thus, almost all public venues are being forced to close their doors, with the exception of casinos. Authorities are nevertheless asking them to reduce staffing levels and increase testing.
The most serious situation in Macau since the start of the health crisis
Recently, the number of Covid-19 infections in Macau surpassed 300. This figure may seem quite low and incommensurable with those recorded across the world, despite a population of approximately 635,000.
Nevertheless, this former Portuguese colony has been extremely unaffected by the pandemic and seems determined to remain so. This is why it is strictly following mainland China’s zero-Covid policy.
As it faces the most complicated and serious situation since the start of the international health crisis, it has implemented new restrictive measures. These require government offices, banks, bars, cinemas, nightclubs, hair salons, gyms, and sports fields to close their doors.
Restaurants, for their part, can now only sell takeout, and schools have already been closed for the summer holidays, earlier than scheduled. However, casinos can remain open.
In fact, after closing them for two weeks in February 2020, the Macau authorities reached an agreement with them to only close those in which cases were recorded.
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Protective measures to be respected
The Macau regulatory authority has asked casino operators to reduce the number of people working in gaming rooms and to adhere to certain protective measures. First, they must strictly implement all epidemic prevention guidelines issued by the Health Bureau.
This requires them to check their customers’ temperatures and increase cleaning and disinfection practices in their establishments. Of course, social distancing and mask-wearing must also be observed. Starting Monday, June 27, all casino employees must also undergo an antigen test before each shift and a nucleic acid test every 48 hours.
Even if Macau’s gambling establishments are allowed to remain open, they may not attract many customers. Indeed, very strict border controls have been put in place, which deters most people from traveling to this special administrative region to gamble.
In addition, residents are urged to stay home. Nine areas of the city are now completely closed. There are also 5,000 people in quarantine, including 3,333 Macau residents, 881 tourists, and 631 foreign workers.
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