Macau Casinos Are Ready To Operate Amidst The Coronavirus Threat

Published: 12/08/2020

Reading Time: 3 Min

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Macau, the world’s largest gambling hub, struggled as travel restrictions were imposed because of the novel coronavirus. Despite being one of the places with the lowest rate of infection, the gambling-reliant country saw a massive decline in the economy.

The country reported 46 cases of the novel coronavirus, and its last case went home from the hospital in March. There was no reported of a confirmed new case of infection on the island over the previous 28 days. China’s special administrative zone reported zero casualties from the deadly virus. However, its casinos saw massive losses because of the restrictions imposed by China and other neighboring nations.

The country saw hope as the individual travel scheme was reinstated. The scheme will allow tourists to visit the island without the need to quarantine for 14 days. The Zhuhai, a city in Guangdong province, has opened its borders to allow travelers to visit the gambling mecca. China’s decision to allow tourist visas rallied stocks of casinos in Macau as investors hoped for the recovery of the industry.

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Macau is ready to restart the industry

The gambling regulators in Macau started testing 25,000 casino employees for coronavirus. The Macau Health Burea reported that all key casino employees turned out negative from the contamination of the deadly virus.

The regulators tested the employees over ten days wherein frontlines, including dealers and security officers from two leading casinos on the island, SJM Holdings Ltd and Sands China Ltd.

Macau, the only Chinese territory allowed for gambling, has six major casino operators. Conde de São Januario Hospital Centre administered the tests, and the nucleic acid test results were confirmed by senior physician Alvis Lo Iek Long.

The health regulators assured that the government could carry out 16,000 NAT tests every day. The tested employees represented 1 percent of the total employees of the casinos in Macau. The regulators have already conducted around 300,000 tests. The country’s gambling industry suffered massive hit despite having the lowest case of the transmission of the deadly disease.

No reports of new cases and positive outlook

The Chinese territory reported zero cases of the virus in weeks because of its effective coronavirus preventive measures. The success of its coronavirus campaign implies that the country is ready to restart its gambling industry. However, Macau needed to follow strict protocols from the Chinese government.

Stocks of casinos in Macau rallied when the news of the resume of tourist visas broke out. Zhuhai residents can now get a visa to visit Macau starting Wednesday. The whole province will resume the tourist visas beginning August 26, and the rest of China will follow beginning September 23. The National Immigration Administration confirmed the news.

The gambling mecca’s gross domestic product dropped 49 percent in the first here months of 2020 despite early reopening in February. The casinos on the island reopened after 15 days of shutdown because of its low transmission rate of the virus.

Experts believe that China’s move to resume the tourist visas is a massive step in the right decision.