The Macau government announced on Saturday that all industrial and commercial establishments in Macau, including casinos, will be closed for one week from Monday 11 July. Following the order, all casinos in Macau closed their doors at midnight on Monday morning.
According to the instructions issued by the Macau Chief Executive on Saturday, the only companies or entities allowed to remain open are those providing basic public services such as water, electricity, natural gas, fuel, telecommunications, public transportation and garbage collection, as well as hotel accommodation, cleaning, property management, wholesale and transportation of living materials and other services necessary to maintain the necessary operations of society.
Inside Asian Gaming was one of a handful of media on the scene at midnight on Monday morning as the historic Casino Lisboa closed its doors. At the same time, the other 35 casinos across Macau were all doing this very same thing.
The last time Macau’s casinos were closed was on 5 February 2020 after the Chief Executive ordered a 15-day closure, also as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It also indirectly shows that Macau’s epidemic prevention policy has not been relaxed in the past two and a half years.
On Monday, once-thriving tourist hotspots around NAPE on the Macau peninsula and along the Cotai Strip resembled ghost towns – a sombre reminder of struggles the world’s casino hub continues to endure deep into 2022.
While hotels are allowed to continue to operate, shopping malls within the integrated resorts are also closed.
Likewise, all pawnshops and jewellery shops in Macau’s Central District are closed while restaurants are permitted to serve take-away only.
There were 59 new positive cases of COVID-19 in Macau on Sunday (10 July), including 42 in red code areas and medical observation hotels. Six cases were detected among close contacts, seven in universal nucleic acid testing and within priority groups, and four cases in other groups, which were found in the community. The cumulative total since 18 June is 1,526 cases.
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