Macau’s Health Bureau says two people recorded as working at the MGM Macau casino are confirmed to have caught rubella, a disease also known as German measles.
MGM Macau (pictured) is the third Macau casino property this month to have cases of rubella confirmed by the city’s authorities. The others were City of Dreams and StarWorld Hotel.
MGM Macau, located on Macau peninsula, is run by MGM China Holdings Ltd.
City of Dreams, in Cotai, is operated by Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd. StarWorld Hotel, on Macau peninsula, is a casino resort run by Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd.
According to data from Macau’s Health Bureau, in the first 24 days of this month, a total of 14 people recorded as working at Macau casino resorts was confirmed to have caught rubella.
Macau had an aggregate of 24 rubella cases reported citywide so far this year.
Earlier this month, the Health Bureau had confirmed seven staff from City of Dreams had been diagnosed with rubella. In addition, five workers at StarWorld were also confirmed to have caught rubella.
The two MGM Macau casino staff with rubella each hold Macau residency, but both were born in mainland China, and had an “unclear history” of vaccination against that virus, the bureau noted in a Wednesday release.
Rubella is a disease preventable by vaccination, according to World Health Organization. Complications linked to the disease include the risk of miscarriage or foetal abnormality for women who contract it in the early stages of a pregnancy.
The Health Bureau said in its Wednesday release it had sent – earlier this month – staff to extract blood samples from all pregnant staff at City of Dreams to check their antibody profile for signs of immunity to rubella. A total of 30 pregnant staff – out of an aggregate 32 – displayed signs of immunity to the virus, the release stated.
A similar operation had previously taken place at StarWorld Hotel.
On April 16, a Macau gaming labour activist group delivered a letter to the city’s Labour Affairs Bureau to “reflect concerns” it had regarding the number of rubella infection cases reported this month among casino staff.
