Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Macau's chief executive said that starting Thursday, bars, movie theatres, hair salons, and outdoor ...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Macau's chief executive said that starting Thursday, bars, movie theatres, hair salons, and outdoor parks will be closed because of COVID-19. This comes as the world's biggest gambling hub tries to stop a rise in locally transmitted cases.
Ho Iat Seng said in a statement on the government's website that theatres, fitness centres, and other places for fun must close at 5 p.m. local time on Thursday. However, casinos can stay open.
From the restaurants, only takeout is allowed.
This week, all of Macau's more than 600,000 residents had to go through a second round of mass testing because the number of people with the disease rose to more than 100.
Positive cases include people who work or visit casinos, and some of them are related to a wedding banquet that was held in SJM Holdings' Grand Lisboa Palace.
Authorities shut down a hotel and casino resort on Macau's main peninsula on Tuesday because of a coronavirus infection. About 700 people were put in quarantine.
The last time there was a coronavirus outbreak in Macau was in October of last year, and the city has never been locked down or quarantined on a large scale before. Macau's cases are still a long way below the number of infections that happen every day in places like Hong Kong, where the number of infections has jumped to more than 1,000 in recent days.
Macau, a former Portuguese colony that is now ruled by China, follows Beijing's "zero COVID" policy, which aims to stop all outbreaks of the virus at almost any cost. This goes against the global trend of trying to live with the virus.
Analysts say that casino income will be close to zero in the next few weeks.
During the outbreak in Hong Kong this year, there were more than a million confirmed cases of infection and more than 9,000 deaths, which overwhelmed hospitals and other public services. Officials there say they don't think they will tighten restrictions any more because the need for medical services hasn't grown.
There is only one public hospital in Macau, and its services are already being pushed to the limit every day. The territory's quick plan to test everyone comes as it keeps its border with mainland China open. Many of its residents live and work in the Chinese city Zhuhai, which is right next door.
