JAKRTA - Macau began a new round of COVID-19 testing for its more than 600,000 residents on Monday, as officials at the world's biggest gambling hub race to limit infections that have risen in the city's worst outbreak since the pandemic began.
All residents face three rounds of testing this week, in addition to rapid antigen tests, as 68 new infections on Monday took the tally in the former Portuguese colony to 852 since mid-June. Meanwhile, around 12,000 people have been quarantined.
Although China's special administrative region has not ordered full-scale lockdowns like those imposed on mainland cities such as the business hub of Shanghai, Macau has largely been shut down.
Non-essential government services were closed, with schools, parks, sports and entertainment facilities closed. Meanwhile, restaurants can only provide take-away items.
However, Macau has allowed casinos to remain open to ensure job security in an industry that generates more than 80 percent of government revenue, employing most of the city's residents, either directly or indirectly.
Still, visitors are few and the casino has very little staff, with many employees staying at home in accordance with government directives.
Analysts said the six operators, Sands China, Wynn Macau, MGM China, Melco Resorts, Galaxy Entertainment and SJM Holding, are likely to have no income for several weeks due to the action.
It is known, Macau has been largely free of COVID-19 since the outbreak in October 2021. It follows China's 'zero-COVID' policy which aims to eradicate all outbreaks at any cost, despite going against the global trend of trying to coexist. with viruses.
Macau's number of infection cases remains far below those elsewhere, including neighboring global financial hub Hong Kong, which has seen daily cases jump to more than 2,000 this month.
However, the services of the only public hospital were severely neglected. The region has an open border with mainland China, with many residents living and working in the adjoining city of Zhuhai.
About 600 Chinese health workers have come to Macau to help with coronavirus efforts. Officials have set up a makeshift hospital next to the Las Vegas-style Cotai line to help deal with it.
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