JAKARTA - Macau authorities have decided to close several residential buildings, amid efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 infection bringing the city's activities to a halt, except for the majority of its casinos which remain open.
The former Portuguese colony reported 39 new infections on Friday, bringing the current total outbreak to 149, with about a dozen buildings locked and residents barred from leaving, the local government said in a statement.
In addition, more than 5,000 residents of the city are under mandatory quarantine, according to the city government, as reported by Reuters June 24.
Macau, China's special administrative region, is testing its more than 600,000 residents for the coronavirus for the second time this week. Testing will be completed on Friday.
To support efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, a makeshift hospital, located next to the Las Vegas-style Cotai Strip, is also expected to open this Friday.
Macau closed most of its city, including bars, cinemas, hair salons and outdoor parks on Thursday. Only takeaway is allowed from the dining facility.
The strict measures come after Macau has been largely COVID-19-free since the outbreak in October 2021. Previously, the city had never faced an outbreak of the highly contagious variant of Omicron.
Meanwhile, Macau is adhering to China's "zero COVID" policy which aims to eradicate all outbreaks, at any cost, against the global trend of trying to coexist with the virus.
Casino revenue is likely to be near zero in the coming weeks, analysts said. Only one of the more than 30 casinos in the region was closed as an anti-COVID measure, but the others had few customers, residents said.
However, Macau's cases are still well below daily infections elsewhere, including neighboring Hong Kong, where cases jumped to more than 1,000 a day this month.
To note, this year's Hong Kong outbreak caused more than 1 million confirmed infections, with more than 9,000 deaths, flooding hospitals and public services. Officials there are trying to relax some of the restrictions.
With only one public house, the day-to-day health services in Macau were already stretched before the current outbreak. The region's quick plan to test its entire population is imminent, as it continues to open its borders with mainland China, with many residents living and working in the adjoining city of Zhuhai.
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