The Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino resort in Singapore said in a statement it conducted last week a “Covid-19 testing exercise for staff and contractors working on the property.” The measure followed a 52-hour pause of its gaming operations after two casino floor workers tested positive for Covid-19.
“A total of 7,450 team members as well as 800 contractors took the antigen rapid test (ART) for Covid-19 from 21-26 May, with all testing negative,” stated the announcement. “This was done in addition to our enhanced polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing regime for all team members working on property.”
It added: “Routine testing takes place every 14 or 28 days, based on job profiles and risk exposure.”
Marina Bay Sands (pictured) is run by a unit of United States-based Las Vegas Sands Corp, also the parent of Macau operator Sands China Ltd.
The property’s casino resumed operations on May 19, after a “deep cleaning” of the premises starting from May 17. Under revised operation guidelines, each gaming table now allows only “two patrons per table”.
Marina Bay Sands said it continued to operate its venues and attractions “with the highest of care,” in order “to instill a greater sense of comfort and reassurance” among its guests, employees and the wider community.
Those of Marina Bay Sands’ non-gaming facilities that had previously been able to reopen after Singapore’s earlier restrictions had been relaxed, had continued in operation during the casino shutdown.
But the integrated resort is now operating “based on revised capacities and stricter safe management measures across property till 13 June 2021, in support of the government’s latest efforts.”
Singapore introduced on May 16 what it termed Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) measures to counter an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the city-state.
The steps are scheduled to run until June 13, according to a statement on the Singapore government’s main website.
