The premises of the MGM Cotai casino resort are no longer sealed as a Covid-19 countermeasure, three days after restrictions were imposed. The step initially required more than 1,500 people to remain on site, including staff and hotel guests.
The lockdown on the property was lifted on Wednesday, confirmed that day the Macau authorities. The complex was due to reopen to the public on Thursday (November 3).
The MGM China Holdings Ltd property was sealed on Sunday, as one worker from its casino tested ‘positive’ that day for Covid-19.
Since the lockdown on the MGM Cotai property (pictured) was lifted, most of the people that had remained on site had been allowed to leave after testing ‘negative’ for Covid-19. They will still have to undergo daily tests for the “next few days”, said the city’s health authorities. But about 80 people will have to remain in quarantine, as they were considered to be at higher risk of infection due to their close contact with the confirmed patient.
Macau has again embarked on two rounds of mass testing of the city’s entire population, amid 10 confirmed cases of Macau people with Covid-19 infection. The first round concluded on Wednesday, with all results ‘negative’, according to the local authorities. A second round is scheduled for Friday and Saturday (November 4 and 5).
From October 26 to November 2, Macau had recorded 10 new infection cases, two classified as imported and the other eight linked to those imported infections.
Currently to cross the Macau border with Zhuhai, a Covid-19 test certificate with 24-hour validity is required. The rule is in place until at least November 4.
Any person travelling to Zhuhai from Macau must also make “an advanced health declaration” via the official channels of the Zhuhai health authorities. They are also required to do three tests in three days after arriving in Zhuhai, and must do a “three-day self-monitoring of health at home”, avoiding going out unless necessary.
Macau’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre said the Covid-19 test validity period for crossing the Macau-Zhuhai boundary might “be resumed to 48 hours” from November 5, provided that the “epidemic-related development becomes stable”.
