Aristocrat Technologies Macau Ltd – the Macau subsidiary of Australia-based Aristocrat Leisure Ltd – has donated a total of 50,000 protective face masks to the city’s government, said respectively the firm and the local authorities in separate press releases.
The aim of the donation was to help meet local demand for such supplies amid the ongoing Covid-19 alert. A ceremony (pictured) marking the handover of the items took place on Friday.
Aristocrat said the donated face masks were being passed to, respectively, Macau’s Health Bureau, the city’s Education and Youth Affairs Bureau and the Higher Education Bureau, for distribution to front-line staff and schools in need.
Lloyd Robson (pictured, left), sales and business development director Asia-Pacific for Aristocrat, said in comments featured in the company’s press release: “It’s sad to see the community and industry impacted by the events surrounding Covid-19. At Aristocrat, we take our role as a corporate citizen in Macau seriously and are proud that we can support our community when they need it most.”
The Macau government also received on Friday a donation of 100,000 face masks by a charity linked to local junket operator Tak Chun.
A number of gaming-sector firms in Macau have been playing a role in supporting local community efforts in tackling the Covid-19 threat, including by donating epidemic-prevention materials such as protective face masks and hand-sanitiser gel.
The city’s six casino operators also have announced a number of community-support initiatives ranging from financial donations, to special programmes targeting local small- and medium-sized enterprises.
In Macau, the first case of infection linked to the coronavirus was confirmed on January 22; that was followed by nine other cases detected in the city in the ensuing two weeks. No new cases have been reported in Macau since February 4.
Of those infected, seven were visitors from Wuhan and three were Macau residents. All tourists from Wuhan have recovered and gone home after treatment in Macau. As of Sunday afternoon, one Macau resident had recovered and been discharged from hospital; the other two were in a stable condition after receiving medical treatment.
As part of a wide-range of disease-control measures imposed by the Macau government, local casinos had to shut down for a 15-day period between February 5 and 19 inclusive.
