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Macau Starts 11th Round Of COVID Testing; Losing Casinos Shut Down
- By The Financial District
- Jul 18, 2022
- 2 min read
Macau completed its eleventh round of COVID-19 testing for citizens on July 18, 2022, as the world's largest gambling hub extended its closure of casinos and other businesses to combat its worst outbreak since the pandemic began, according to a story by Farah Master for Reuters.
Photo Insert: The six casino operators, Sands China, Wynn Macau, MGM China, Melco Resorts, Galaxy Entertainment, and SJM Holding, are racking up losses ahead of bids for new licenses by next month.
Despite a steady decline in infections, with only 27 new cases reported on Sunday, the city's more than 600,000 citizens must remain at home until Friday, with all non-essential businesses closed.
Despite the fact that more than 90 percent of citizens are completely immunized against COVID, this is the first time Macau has had to deal with the rapidly-spreading Omicron strain.
Since the middle of June, the Chinese special administrative region, which went into lockdown on July 11, has recorded more than 1,700 COVID cases, after being virtually COVID-free since an outbreak in October 2021.
The former Portuguese colony has only one public hospital, and its health care system was already overburdened prior to the outbreak.
Macau adheres to China's "zero-COVID" policy of eradicating all COVID outbreaks at any cost, which runs opposite to the global trend of coexisting with the virus. This week, everyone will be tested for coronavirus at least twice, with fast antigen tests required in between.
The six casino operators, Sands China, Wynn Macau, MGM China, Melco Resorts, Galaxy Entertainment, and SJM Holding, are racking up losses ahead of bids for new licenses by next month.
Still, daily infections are lower than in neighboring Hong Kong, where cases have increased to more than 3,000 per day this month as restrictions have been relaxed.
However, Macau has an open border with mainland China, and many of its people live and work in Zhuhai.
