Gambling capital of Macao may lock down again amid COVID surge

By Karan Deep Singh, The New York Times Company

Thursday, June 30, 2022 | 2 a.m.

Officials in Macao are conducting mandatory testing and locking down parts of the Chinese city amid its worst spike in coronavirus cases, raising the possibility that the gambling capital will be shut down once again.

Macao has reported 223 new cases since Sunday, the most in any week since the pandemic started, according to government data. While the number is small for an outbreak, it represents nearly half of the total cases that Macao has detected over the course of the pandemic.

The city has made every resident take antigen tests daily and enforced quarantines for those who have tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the outbreak this month. The policies are similar to those in mainland China, where local governments have shut down cities like Shanghai for weeks this year to try to stamp out COVID completely.

Last Tuesday, the government locked down a hotel and casino resort on the island after dozens of new cases emerged. On Thursday, the government shut down parks, swimming pools, salons and theaters. Officials did not say whether casinos — which account for about 80% of government revenue — would also be shut down.

Sands China, MGM China and Wynn Macau, all of which have ties to Las Vegas, are among casino operators in Macau.

Leo Poon, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, said the government’s aggressive testing and quarantine strategy could ultimately prove ineffective.

“I think we have to be more realistic because COVID is not going to disappear,” Poon said. “You just have to make sure the cases are under a manageable size and businesses can get back to normal.”

The people who are most at risk are older residents and those who had not been vaccinated, he said. At least 93% of the city’s 650,000 people have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford. But many people, especially those ages 60 years and older, have not come forward for a third dose.

Still, experts say the city’s small population should help the government contain the surge. They also point to neighboring Hong Kong, which has recently relaxed COVID restrictions despite a rise in cases. Hong Kong reported 1,685 cases Tuesday, more than six times the number of cases the same day last month, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Hong Kong authorities recently made it easier for children to remain in school, asking education authorities only to close classes where infections are found as opposed to shutting down entire schools, Poon said. He said that authorities in Macao could take lessons from Hong Kong, which reopened in-person classes with some restrictions in April, and adopt a more “effective” strategy.

“COVID is not going away,” Poon said. “The best strategy is to get vaccinated and everyone has to be responsible for themselves.”