Macau health authorities issued a compulsory order requiring all Filipino nationals in the city, including Macau residents who hold Filipino passports, to undergo a COVID-19 nucleic acid test every day starting July 22, 20221. The requirement applied to Filipino nationals specifically and was not applied to other communities in Macau, according to the United States Department of State's account of the measure1.
"in July 2022, Macau health authorities issued a compulsory order requiring all Filipino nationals in the city, including Macau residents who hold Filipino passports, to undergo a COVID-19 nucleic acid test every day starting July 22"
The order came during a period when Macau's pandemic restrictions were still in force. The State Department report notes that most pandemic restrictions were removed in January 2023, after which bettors from mainland China returned and Macau recorded $22.8 billion in full-year casino gross gaming revenue for 2023, a 334 percent increase from the previous year's total and roughly two-thirds of the gaming revenue recorded in 20191.
The report does not state how long the daily testing requirement for Filipino nationals remained in place, how many people it covered, whether any penalty applied for non-compliance, or whether the order was later lifted. Those details have not been reported1.
Macau's gaming sector is the primary basis of its economy, and the government collected gaming tax revenue of $8.1 billion in 2023, accounting for 77 percent of total government revenue of $10.5 billion1. The city's six gaming concessionaires retained their concessions in 2022 and may operate for another 10 years, until December 20321.
What it means for players
For Filipino passport holders living in or visiting Macau at the time, the order meant a daily test as a condition of ordinary activity in the city, regardless of residency status. The requirement was drawn around nationality rather than around residence, so a Macau resident who also held a Filipino passport fell inside it1.
For other gamblers in Macau, including locals, expats of other nationalities and visitors, the reported order did not extend to them1. The report does not describe how the requirement interacted with casino entry, hotel stays or border crossings, and no such detail has been reported1.
The wider context for anyone gambling in Macau is that the pandemic-era restrictions described here were followed by the removal of most restrictions in January 2023 and a sharp recovery in gaming revenue that year1.
What happens next
The report gives no end date for the daily testing order and no later update on its status1. It records only that most pandemic restrictions were removed in January 20231.
Sources1 sources
- Macau - United States Department of State, state.gov
