Travelers from Macau to Beijing will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine, followed by a seven-day health monitoring due to new restrictions that came into effect this weekend.
“People arriving from Macau in Beijing will be quarantined. They will undergo tests in accordance with current requirements and will be under centralized medical observation and health monitoring,” the authorities said.
The pandemic situation in Macau worsened in late September, with new cases being detected in the city. The number of infections increased and the neighboring city of Zhuhai implemented a 14-day quarantine for all Macao arrivals. On October 6, Macau also tightened the regulation of foreign travel.
The new outbreak unfortunately dampened expectations for the Golden Week holiday. During the entire festive period, Macau received only 8,159 visitors. That’s a 94% decline from 156,000 arrivals in 2020; numbers are down 99% from pre-pandemic numbers in 2019 when the city registered 980,000 visitors for the holiday. In all, 7,393 of the arrivals were from China.
Visitor numbers also dropped sharply as the week progressed, with 1,749 on October 1st and just 418 on October 7th. Amid new cases, Macau is still trying to reform its gambling law, which could include a reduced number of licenses granted to casinos.
The law firm, MdME Advogados, suggested that the industry could benefit from a government representative assigned to each location, who would oversee the fulfillment of its obligations and protect the public interest.
Macau intends to hold a public consultation on games and casinos
The consultation is intended to shed some light on the changes Macau’s gaming industry is undergoing. It mainly involves a new game policy and the renewal of existing game licenses.
Currently, the six concessions expire in June 2022, and Macau Secretary of Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, stated that the number of permits could be reduced. “The gaming industry has caused problems in society and demonstrated deficiencies in its supervision,” he said.
While casinos should be encouraged to change the way they operate, they will likely need to adjust to new local regulations.
