Macau shuts casinos and other businesses to contain Omicron variant
World’s biggest gambling hub locks down almost all business premises for a week from Monday
10 July 2022 - 23:23
by Julie Zhu
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Residents holding umbrellas line up to get tested for Covid-19 in Macau, China, July 4 2022. Picture: JOHN MAK/REUTERS
Hong Kong — Macau will shut almost all commercial and industrial businesses including its casinos for one week from Monday, as authorities race to curb a surge of Covid-19 infections in the world’s biggest gambling hub.
Essential services including hotels, supermarkets and pharmacies will however remain open, city officials said as they announced the measures at a press conference on Saturday.
The announcement came as Macau reported 71 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total to 1,374 since mid-June. More than 17,000 people are in quarantine, authorities have said.
Local authorities have added two hotels in popular casino resorts to be used as Covid-19 medical facilities from Friday as they try to increase capacity to handle the surge of infections.
More than 90% of Macau’s residents are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, but this is the first time the city has had to grapple with the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
The new variant has been found in Shanghai, an official told a briefing in the city on Sunday.
The case, found in the financial district of Pudong on July 8, was linked with a case from overseas, said Zhao Dandan, vice-director of the city’s health commission.
The finding threatens to complicate China’s Covid-zero strategy.
Shanghai, in eastern China, emerged from a lockdown lasting around two months at the start of June, but it has continued to impose tough restrictions, locking down buildings and compounds as soon as new potential transmission chains emerge.
Zhao said residents in several major Shanghai districts would undergo two rounds of Covid tests, from July 12-14, in a bid to bring potential new outbreaks under control.
The Omicron BA.5 variant was first discovered in China on May 13 in a 37-year old male patient who had flown to Shanghai from Uganda, according to the China Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Variant BA.5 has been shown to have an accelerated rate of transmission and an improved immune escape capability, said Yuan Zhengan, a member of the city’s expert advisory group on Covid prevention, speaking at the Sunday briefing.
But vaccination is still effective at preventing BA.5 from causing serious illness or death, he said.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Macau shuts casinos and other businesses to contain Omicron variant
World’s biggest gambling hub locks down almost all business premises for a week from Monday
Hong Kong — Macau will shut almost all commercial and industrial businesses including its casinos for one week from Monday, as authorities race to curb a surge of Covid-19 infections in the world’s biggest gambling hub.
Essential services including hotels, supermarkets and pharmacies will however remain open, city officials said as they announced the measures at a press conference on Saturday.
The announcement came as Macau reported 71 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total to 1,374 since mid-June. More than 17,000 people are in quarantine, authorities have said.
Local authorities have added two hotels in popular casino resorts to be used as Covid-19 medical facilities from Friday as they try to increase capacity to handle the surge of infections.
More than 90% of Macau’s residents are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, but this is the first time the city has had to grapple with the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
The new variant has been found in Shanghai, an official told a briefing in the city on Sunday.
The case, found in the financial district of Pudong on July 8, was linked with a case from overseas, said Zhao Dandan, vice-director of the city’s health commission.
The finding threatens to complicate China’s Covid-zero strategy.
Shanghai, in eastern China, emerged from a lockdown lasting around two months at the start of June, but it has continued to impose tough restrictions, locking down buildings and compounds as soon as new potential transmission chains emerge.
Zhao said residents in several major Shanghai districts would undergo two rounds of Covid tests, from July 12-14, in a bid to bring potential new outbreaks under control.
The Omicron BA.5 variant was first discovered in China on May 13 in a 37-year old male patient who had flown to Shanghai from Uganda, according to the China Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Variant BA.5 has been shown to have an accelerated rate of transmission and an improved immune escape capability, said Yuan Zhengan, a member of the city’s expert advisory group on Covid prevention, speaking at the Sunday briefing.
But vaccination is still effective at preventing BA.5 from causing serious illness or death, he said.
Reuters
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