Macao locks down landmark Lisboa hotel after COVID-19 cases found

HONG KONG: Macao has locked down one of the city’s most famous hotels, the Grand Lisboa, after more than a dozen COVID-19 cases were found there on Tuesday (July 5), with infections spreading quickly at the world’s largest gambling hub.

At least 16 other buildings in China’s SAR are also under lockdown and no one is allowed to exit or enter them.

Authorities have quarantined more than 13,000 people as the city struggles to contain its biggest outbreak since the pandemic began. Macau has recorded more than 900 coronavirus infections since mid-June, before that it was largely COVID-free since an outbreak in October 2021.

The Grand Lisboa is the second casino hotel to close in recent weeks. One of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, the Lisboa is owned by SJM Holdings, founded by former Macau kingpin Stanley Ho.

Local media showed photos of the sealed off hotel with people in riot gear and hazmat suits standing outside. The Grand Lisboa was not immediately available for comment.

While the government has failed to impose a full-scale lockdown in the former Portuguese colony seen in Chinese cities like Shanghai, most establishments are closed and restaurants can only offer takeaway food.

Residents have been asked to stay home as much as possible and will have to take part in three citywide COVID-19 tests this week. People also have to do rapid antigen tests in between.

Only Macau’s casinos were allowed to stay open to ensure job security. The government relies on industry for more than 80 percent of its tax revenue, with most of the population employed directly or indirectly by the casino resorts.

While casinos are physically open, there are few guests and only a small number of staff, with many staff being asked to stay home to comply with government requests.

Macau adheres to China’s “zero-COVID” policy, which aims to eradicate all outbreaks at all costs, bucking a global trend to co-exist with the virus.

It still has an open border with mainland China, whose economy depends heavily on the influx of Chinese visitors.