No community cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Macau for the 24 hours to midnight on Thursday, said the local authorities in a Friday update.
Previously, Macau officials have referred to a policy aim of “social zero Covid”; i.e., no new cases within the general community, rather than in a controlled setting such as precautionary observation or quarantine.
On Wednesday, Macau officials said the city’s casinos were among non-essential businesses that could reopen at the start of Saturday (July 23) until July 29, at 50 percent staffing, after temporary shutdown to stem community spread. Officials cited reduced daily rates of new infection as a factor in the decision to permit reopening. The casinos – along with the rest of the city’s non-essential businesses – were first paused on July 11 as part of Covid-19 countersteps.
The reason for the defined period of reopening of non-essential businesses, including casinos, is that Macau is undergoing what the authorities term a “consolidation” phase. Under it a cautious approach is being used regarding restoring some form of normality to community life.
The latest data show five new cases of Covid-19 were identified in the 24 hours to midnight on Thursday, taking to 1,800 the infection tally since the start of the current outbreak on June 18.
All the new cases were either within ‘red’ lockdown zones – where people are not allowed to leave, and daily necessities are brought in for them – or were in medical observation hotels.
Some parts of Macau peninsula were as of Friday still considered at higher risk of seeding community spread than the rest of the city. People in those areas have been told to take a daily nucleic acid test from Friday until Sunday (July 24) inclusive.
