Macau is closing all casinos due to the COVID-19 quarantine. All industrial and commercial companies and facilities in Macau are suspended from Monday, July 11. The quarantine will last a week, until July 18.
China’s Macau Special Administrative Region closed all of its casinos for the first time in more than two years. This happened against the backdrop of a new outbreak of COVID-19 in the second-largest gambling city in the world.
Despite China’s zero-tolerance policy of extreme measures, the number of new cases has been on the rise in the country lately.
Macau has reported a total of 1,526 new cases of coronavirus since June 18, according to the Center for Response and Coordination.
More than 30 Macau casinos today closed their doors for the first time since February 2020, when the downtime was 15 days.
According to a statement from the city of Macau, the activities of “all industries, commercial companies, and facilities in Macau” have been suspended from Monday, July 11 until July 18, except for continuous cycle and essential businesses.
Representatives of the Macau administration do not exclude that quarantine throughout the city may be extended, and epidemiological restrictions will be strengthened depending on the development of the situation with COVID-19.
The news about the quarantine led to a sharp drop in all shares of the gambling industry.
The gambling sector is essential to Macau’s economy, with over 80 percent of the city’s revenue coming from it.
With a population of 681,700 and an area of 32.9 square kilometers, Macau is the most densely populated place in the world. The gaming area is seven times larger than Las Vegas.
Most Macau residents are directly or indirectly employed in the gambling industry.
Macau’s gambling revenues exceeded US$29 billion in 2019.