The international gambling hub of Macau, where 90% of the population is fully vaccinated for Covid, has been locked down, for the first time since February 2020.
Macau Shuts Casinos as City Enters Weeklong Lockdown | Wall Street Journal - Natasha Khan:
July 10, 2022 - "The gambling enclave of Macau will enter a citywide lockdown early Monday, as authorities seek to contain a spiraling Covid-19 outbreak. Aside from essential services such as supermarkets, healthcare facilities and restaurants selling takeaway, all other businesses have been ordered to shut for a week, with residents required to stay at home. City officials urged the public not to panic-buy food, asking people to make purchases at staggered times to enable social distancing in queues.
"The order, issued Saturday by the territory’s chief executive, Ho Iat-seng, comes as Macau struggles to contain an outbreak that had already shuttered venues such as cinemas, salons and swimming pools. The Chinese gambling hub has recorded hundreds of cases in recent weeks, its worst-ever outbreak after keeping to China’s zero-Covid strategy for most of the pandemic.... Macau has a population of about 650,000. Throughout the pandemic, it has maintained strict Covid-containment measures. At one point, quarantine for travelers from what it deemed very high-risk countries was as long as 28 days.
"The lockdown order specified that all adults who needed to leave their homes would be required to wear masks of KN95-standard or above. Those who violated that order could be subject to jail time."
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/macau-shuts-casinos-as-city-enters-weeklong-lockdown-11657460218
Macau shuts all casinos in bid to contain worsening Covid outbreak | The Guardian - Reuters:
July 11, 2022 - "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 five days. While the government said it was not imposing a citywide lockdown, the stringent measures mean Macau is effectively closed....
"Casinos were last shut in Macau in February 2020 for 15 days.... The industry employs most of the population directly or indirectly and accounts for more than 80% of government revenues. Casinos owned by Sands China, Wynn Macau, SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment, Melco Resorts and MGM Resorts have been effectively shut for the past few weeks, with no gamblers and minimal staffing as per government requirements for people to work from home....
"Frustration is mounting at the government’s handling of the outbreak. Some residents have got into fights at testing centres while others have had to queue for more than 20 hours to access healthcare facilities. Residents will be required to take part in mass Covid tests four times this week as the government attempts to cut transmission chains. Residents 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 but this is the first time the city has had to grapple with the fast-spreading Omicron variant. Authorities have added two hotels in popular casino resorts to be used as Covid medical facilities as they try to increase capacity to handle the surge of infections."
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