As of Thursday, 6th of February, the following measures have been made in Macau’s effort to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus.
Status of current cases:
- 9 confirmed coronavirus cases – 6 tourists from Wuhan, 3 Macau locals
- 1st confirmed case has recovered and was discharged
- 32 suspected cases of the novel coronavirus from analyses
- 46 case isolated due to contact with virus patients
- WHO declared novel coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency
Government measures
- All public services closed. Civil servants will be working from home if possible
- Almost all medical clinics closed at the government’s request
- Asked local companies to follow measures implemented by the government
- Appealed for residents to stay home and not leave Macau
- Asked residents not to listen to rumours
- Guarantees Macau has enough food supplies; rice, meat, fish, eggs, vegetables. Government asks the population not to panic buy and rush for food at Macau supermarkets and wet markets
- Government does not rule out the closure of some of the borders to Zhuhai
- 20 million masks ordered and distributed to local residents and non-resident (imported) workers at the fixed prices of 8 patacas (US$1) for 10 facemasks every 10 days
- Hotel Pousada Marina Infante rented to house all patients under observation
- Visits to patients in the hospital, as well as visits to the prison, are cancelled
- Wealth Partaking Scheme’s distribution date brought forward
- Called for private sector property owners to review rents in order to help SMEs
- Government-run daycare centres, schools and universities closed until further notice. Students should remain at home
- Asked the 19,000 students from Zhuhai, China that come daily to Macau, to remain at home
Tourism
- Four hotels — three in Cotai, Taipa and one in Macau — closed Friday, 6th of February, until further notice
- Leal Senado building closed for tourists
- Macau off-limits to Wuhan and Hubei residents unless they have an official medical declaration stating they are coronavirus-free
- China has stopped issuing individual travel visas to mainland travellers that want to visit Macau
- All visitors to the city must fill in health forms
- No Hubei residents are allowed entry to Macau’s 41 casinos
Casinos and entertainment
- 41 casinos closed since Wednesday, 5th of February, for a 15-day period
- Macau casino closure to see 75% decline in February in Gross Gaming revenue
- Jockey club also closed
- Casino operators to guarantee housing for around 35,000 of their workers living in Zhuhai
- Cinemas and entertainment shows closed until further notice
- All cinemas, bars, shows, discos, slot machines rooms, gardens and restaurants inside casinos closed
- All health clubs and saunas also ordered closed
- Hotels workers ordered to use facemasks
- All museums, libraries, parks and Mountain tracks and public installations closed
Businesses
- New Yaohan closed from Thursday, 6th of February, for a period of 15 days
- Two Apple stores located in the Sands Cotai Central and Galaxy will likewise be closed from Thursday, 6th of February, for a period of 15 days
- Convenient stores in Outer Harbour closed
- Macau Postal Savings closed until further notice
Travel and transportation
- Dozens of flights to Mainland China and Taiwan axed in the last few days
- Macau residents that visit Taiwan will be quarantined
- All maritime transports from Macau to Hong Kong and Hong Kong to Macau cancelled
- Hong Kong only accessible by the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge
- Number of buses in the streets to be reduced
- All passengers in public transports must use masks
Other efforts
- Facemasks now required to enter banks, as well as temperature checks at the door
- Banks will reduce business hours, while some will be suspending a number of their branches around Macau
- The Bishop of Macau has asked that Catholics work with the government, with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau having suspended all public masses from the 6th to 19th of February. Churches will also be closed in this period.
- Private vans and cars with loudspeakers circulate in the streets asking residents to stay home .
Impact
- Daily visitors to Macau stands at 40,000
- Visitor numbers have decreased in the last week by 80% compared with same period last year
PHOTO © António Sanmarful
