Grand Lisboa casino hotel closed after COVID cases

Macau authorities closed the Grand Lisboa casino hotel, owned by SJM, after 13 COVID-19 cases were found there, with more than 500 people locked inside the property, according to Agence France-Presse. It was the first time a gaming venue in Macau had been closed in more than two years¹.

The closure came as the government announced a wider shutdown. Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng would issue an order suspending the operations of all companies and venues engaged in industrial and commercial activity from July 11 to July 18. Venues required to close include casinos¹.

Cheong said companies and entities providing basic public services and those needed to maintain essential social operations could keep running. Markets, supermarkets, restaurants, beverage and food premises, pharmacies and health care facilities must stay open. Cinemas, beauty salons, bars, barber shops and public swimming pools remain closed, and restaurants, beverage and food premises can continue to offer takeaway only, with no dine-in service¹.

Macau recorded 71 new positive cases the previous day, taking the cumulative total to 1,374 since a local outbreak began on June 18. Despite multiple rounds of mass testing, cases continued to be detected in the community, the government said¹.

Ao Ieong U, vice chairman of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, said that with the conditions in place for continued intensive nucleic acid testing, now was the right time to take further steps to move society into a state of relative stillness and speed up the goal of "dynamic zero"¹.

What it means for players

The Grand Lisboa is one of Macau's best known casino hotels, and its closure under pandemic rules is covered in the guide to closed casinos in Asia. The wider order means all casinos in the city were required to shut from July 11 to July 18, so anyone planning to gamble in Macau during that period would have found the floors closed. Details on which venues operate and who may enter them are set out in the guide to casinos in Macau and the broader guide to gambling in Macau. The Grand Lisboa's own entry rules, games and access are covered in its venue guide, and its parent company's other properties are listed under SJM Resorts.

The order did not close places needed for daily life, including markets, supermarkets, restaurants for takeaway, pharmacies and health care facilities. Restaurants, bars and similar premises could not serve customers on site¹.

What happens next

The suspension of industrial and commercial activity, including casinos, was set to run from July 11 to July 18. Public departments were to stay closed apart from emergency services, and work from home was required where conditions allowed. The government said further rounds of mass testing would follow during the week, alongside restrictions on movement, to find hidden cases and cut transmission chains¹.