Due to a coronavirus outbreak, HONGKONG -Macau has shut all its casinos for the first time in more than two years on Monday. 30-plus casinos and other businesses of the City, will be shut for one week and people were ordered to stay at home though short trips for essential services were allowed. Many casinos have been shut down for the past three weeks with only minimal staffing allowed. DS Kim, an analyst at J.P. Morgan said, “We would probably need to write-off July and likely August as well from the models,” According to Euronews, “Macau has recorded around 1,500 COVID-19 infections since mid-June. Around 19,000 people are in mandatory quarantine as the government adheres to China’s “zero-COVID“ policy that aims to stamp out all outbreaks, running counter to a global trend of trying to co-exist with the virus.
More than 30 zones in the city that have been deemed high risk are now under lockdown, meaning no one is allowed to enter or exit for at least 5 days. While the government said it was not imposing a citywide lockdown, the stringent measures mean Macau is effectively closed.”
Last time in February 2020, the Casinos were shut in Macau. In the area most of the population gets its employment from the casino industry, so the government has previously been hesitant to close the casinos. Added to that the industry accounts for more than 80% of government revenues.
Covid Restrictions and steps on Casinos
Euronews said, “Residents will be required to take part in mass COVID-19 tests four times this week. They have already been tested six times since mid-June and are expected to do rapid antigen tests daily.
More than 90% of Macau’s 600,000 residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 but this is the first time the city has had to grapple with the fast-spreading Omicron variant.”
Read Our Latest Blog Here: 6 Successful Business Models Popularly that You Should Definitely Know in 2022
