The government has started transferring isolated tourists from Hubei province to Hotel Pousada Marina Infante in Taipa. According to the Government Information Bureau, these 26 tourists were in isolation at a youth hostel in Hac Sa until they were moved on Thursday.
This decision to convert the hotel into an isolation centre was only announced today as the government waited for the last guest to be moved. Police were also deployed to guarantee security.
The number of Hubei visitors in Macau when special measures were implemented has since declined. Since the 26th of January, no residents of the Chinese province have been allowed to enter Macau. 108 Hubei residents arrived on Tuesday but were prevented from entering Macau as they did not hold any medical certificate indicating they were not affected by the virus.
The Macau authorities are continuing their efforts to try to find where 237 residents from the Hubei province are in order to ascertain their health status and decide on the measures to be taken.
No new cases of the Wuhan virus have been confirmed in the preceding 24 hours of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre’s announcement on Wednesday. Macau’s seven confirmed novel coronavirus patients — all of whom are tourists from Wuhan — continue to undergo treatment in an isolation ward at the Conde S. Januário Hospital.
According to officials, none of them has a fever, describing their conditions as mild. Aside from these seven, the Health Bureau has so far recorded 114 suspected novel coronavirus cases, 101 of which have tested negative. Results for six of the suspected cases are still pending.
The gaming sector
According to the Macau Post Daily, trade unionists petitioned the government, demanding that Macau’s casinos be closed for at least a fortnight to protect gaming sector workers against possible infection with the novel coronavirus.
Unlike cinemas, which closed last week over the Wuhan virus threat, Macau’s casinos have stayed open 24/7.
The government has instructed gaming operators to ensure that all their casino staff wear facemasks when on duty and also to conduct body temperature checks on all people entering and exiting casino premises.
The government has also instructed the city’s six gaming operators (SJM, Galaxy, Sands, Wynn, Melco, and MGM) to adjust the working hours of their non-resident workers, many of whom live in the adjacent city of Zhuhai, in the wake of shortened operating hours at Macau’s main border checkpoint, the Barrier Gate.
The government also told the operators to ensure that their non-resident workers are provided with proper transport to and from the city’s various border checkpoints.
