All non-essential business venues in Macau will have to close from July 11 to 18, announced on Saturday the city’s government. The city’s casinos will also have to shut temporarily during that period.
Macau’s Secretary for Administration and Justice, André Cheong Weng Chon, announced the new measure at the press conference of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre on Saturday.
The seven-day suspension also covers construction and industrial sites, stated Mr Cheong. Venues classified as essential, such as markets, supermarkets and restaurants, will be allowed to operate, he added. Hotels will also continue to run during the period.
People are advised against going out for non-essential activities until July 18, stated the official.
“This is not exactly a lockdown, we are not banning people from going out. But we hope that with the cooperation from business venues and with the support from the public, foot traffic in our community can be reduced to a minimum,” said Mr Cheong. But he added that businesses and people that are found breaching the measures could face criminal charges.
Macau had had a total of 1,467 confirmed Covid-19 cases as of midnight on Saturday, in the current local outbreak first announced on June 19. A total of 93 new infections was detected on Saturday.
Macau’s task force said 36 Covid-19 patients were discharged from the hospital on Saturday, bringing to 93 the total number of people discharged.
A number of large gaming-resort hotels in Macau is being made available for quarantine purposes. Over the weekend, it was announced the non-gaming venue the Rocks Hotel, a 70-bedroom property at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, has been added to the list of hotels helping the government during the present outbreak. It will be used for medical observation for people with ‘yellow’ – i.e., precautionary – health codes.
(Updated 8.35am, July 11)
