Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - In order to combat its worst outbreak since the start of the epidemic, Macau extended a shutdown of casi...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - In order to combat its worst outbreak since the start of the epidemic, Macau extended a shutdown of casinos and other businesses on Monday and launched the 11th round of COVID-19 testing for locals.
Authorities urged the city's more than 600,000 residents to stay at home until Friday despite a gradual decline in infections that saw just 27 new cases confirmed on Sunday.
Macau has never had to deal with the quickly spreading Omicron strain, despite the fact that more than 90% of inhabitants have received their full COVID vaccinations.
After being virtually COVID-free after an epidemic in October 2021, the Chinese special administrative territory, which was placed under lockdown on July 11, has recorded more over 1,700 illnesses since the middle of June.
The single public hospital in the once Portuguese colony serves a medical system that was already overburdened before the outbreak.
Macau adheres to China's "zero-COVID" policy, which goes against the general trend of attempting to coexist with the virus by putting an end to any and all outbreaks at any cost.
This week, everyone will undergo at least two coronavirus tests, with fast antigen tests being necessary in between.
In advance of next month's deadline for applications for new licences, the six casino operators—Sands China, Wynn Macau, MGM China, Melco Resorts, Galaxy Entertainment, and SJM Holding—are suffering losses.
The number of infections per day is still lower than in other places, such as the neighbouring Hong Kong, where cases have increased this month to more than 3,000 per day as regulations have begun to relax.
However, Macau has an open border with China's mainland, and a large number of its citizens reside and work in the nearby city of Zhuhai.
