As of Tuesday, 4th of February, the following measures have been made by the government of Macau.
Status of current cases:
- 10 confirmed coronavirus cases – 7 tourists from Wuhan, 3 Macau locals
- WHO declared novel coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency
Government measures
- All government services closed, except for health and security staff who continue to work
- All other civil servants to remain home
- 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
- 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 to be closed starting Wednesday for a 15-day period
- 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 and public installations closed
Travel and transportation
- Dozens of flights to Mainland China and Taiwan axed in the last few days
- All maritime transports from Macau to Hong Kong 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
- 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.
Impact
- Visitor numbers have decreased in the last week by 80% compared with same period last year
PHOTO © António Monteiro
