The MGM Cotai casino in Macau has reopened on Wednesday after three days of lockdown. The casino, operated by MGM China, was sealed off after a dealer working there tested positive for Covid-19.
It is now being said that a total of 1,500 people were stuck inside the casino resort after the Chinese special administrative region gave the order of quarantining them. All the people stuck inside have tested negative for Covid-19 now and have been allowed to leave the casino premises according to the health authorities.
The lockdown happened due to the third case of Covid in October in the city after no recorded cases for three months. The infections have spread after the resumption of mainland Chinese tourists’ entry into Macau during the holiday festival.
The Chinese government is following a dynamic zero-covid policy that tries to curb any outbreaks of infections as soon as possible. Due to this policy, Macau casino operators have been incurring huge losses for the past two years.
October was also the second consecutive month this year for the casino operators in Macau to see an increase in revenue after the inflow of tourists during the festival. The government has now started giving e-visas for travel permits to Macau.
Gaming stocks have also seen a rise recently after electronic travel permits were allowed. Hong Kong alone saw an increase in the index of casino shares closing more than 3% higher in Monday trading earlier this week. Travel permits mean more traffic, which is great news for casino operators and a chance to recover the losses from the pandemic.
Currently, all the samples from mass PCR tests for Macau’s 700,000 people turned out negative for the infection on Wednesday. According to some government officials, another round of tests are planned for Friday and Saturday.
