Macau outbreak reaches 941 positive infections

Macau recorded 941 positive COVID-19 infections in the outbreak that began on the night of June 18 and ran through July 4, 2022, according to figures cited by the local newspaper Shimin Daily¹. The report was published on July 6, 2022¹.

The same account listed what it described as the developments the city had hoped to avoid: infections approaching one thousand, a degree of in-hospital transmission at the public Conde de Sao Januario Hospital, a cluster at the Four Seasons shopping mall, an outbreak at an elderly care home, and the first deaths of the outbreak¹. It said the BA.5 subvariant of the virus spreads faster and has a shorter incubation period, and had not previously appeared in mainland China, leaving authorities without prior experience to draw on¹.

The report was critical of the response to the mall cluster. It said the venue should have been disinfected, locked down and subjected to detailed contact tracing as soon as an infected person was found, but that action stopped once an initial link between cases was established¹. It said that when reporters asked why the shop had not been closed, a professional involved considered it unnecessary, and that more people were infected there before the premises were ordered shut¹.

The article also said the number of infections found in the community each day was far higher than the number found among people already under management, indicating continued transmission in the community¹. It cited an online opinion poll posted on the evening of July 4 in which 72 percent of respondents chose a full city lockdown, or "foot binding," as their preferred epidemic control measure, a share far above other options¹.

What it means for players

Macau's casinos and the businesses around them depend on movement into and around the city, and the outbreak described here affected a shopping mall inside one of the major casino resorts¹. The report does not set out which gaming floors, if any, were closed, and no detail on casino operations during this period appears in the account¹. For anyone in Macau, the practical effect of an outbreak of this size is on the conditions attached to entering venues and moving between districts, and on the availability of staff and services. The report does not describe the specific entry rules in force at the time, and those have not been reported here¹. Visitors and residents should expect that any tightening of citywide measures would apply to resort and gaming areas as well as to the rest of Macau, given that a cluster occurred in a mall of that kind¹.

What happens next

The report does not set out a schedule of further measures. It notes that a poll on July 4 showed majority support among respondents for a full city lockdown, but does not say whether authorities intended to impose one¹. No dated next steps are given in the account¹.

For background on gambling in the city, see Can I Gamble in Macau?. For the question of unofficial lottery products sold under Macau branding, see Toto Macau and New Macau Mark Six: Are They Official?.