MGM Grand Macau casino resort is closed in Macao, July 11, 2022. (KONG / AP)
HONG KONG/BEIJING – Macao kicked off an 11th round of COVID-19 testing for residents on Monday, as the world's biggest casino hub extended a lockdown of casinos and other businesses in the fight on its worst outbreak since the pandemic began.
Despite a steady fall in infections that saw just 27 new cases reported on Sunday, authorities said the city's more than 600,000 residents must stay home, with all non-essential businesses shut, until Friday.
READ MORE: Macao businesses asked to suspend operation until Friday
Casino operators Sands China, Wynn Macau, MGM China, Melco Resorts, Galaxy Entertainment, SJM Holding are racking up losses ahead of bids for new licenses by next month
Although more than 90 percent of residents are fully vaccinated against COVID, this is the first time the special administrative region has had to grapple with the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
Macao, which went into lockdown on July 11, has a tally of more than 1,700 infections since the middle of June, after having been largely COVID-free following an outbreak in October 2021.
Coronavirus testing for all will be done at least twice this week, with rapid antigen tests also required in between.
The six casino operators – Sands China, Wynn Macau, MGM China, Melco Resorts, Galaxy Entertainment, SJM Holding – are racking up losses ahead of bids for new licenses by next month.
In the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said Monday reported registering 117 locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 59 in Guangxi and 28 in Gansu, the previous day.
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They also identified 393 local asymptomatic carriers in 12 provincial-level regions on Sunday.
No new deaths from COVID-19 were recorded that day, with the total death toll standing at 5,226.