Macao's Response and Coordination Centre announced two new COVID-19 clusters, numbered 17 and 18, at its epidemic press briefing on 5 July 20221. Cluster 18 is located at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and is linked to the earlier Cluster 11, while Cluster 17 has not yet been connected to any other group1.
As of 3pm that day, epidemiological investigation had traced 13,623 people in total1. That figure comprises 941 positive cases, 2,295 close contacts, 8,640 non-core close contacts (people with overlapping trajectories), 703 secondary close contacts, 332 general contacts and 712 accompanying persons1.
The cases are provisionally divided into 18 clusters1. The two additions break down as follows:
| Cluster | Location | Cases |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Toi Tei Street Kong Wo Plaza, Fai Chi Kei social housing | 17 |
| 18 | Grand Lisboa Hotel | 13 |
"第17群組暫未找到關聯，第18群組與之前的第11群組有關。"
The Grand Lisboa Hotel is a casino hotel in Macao's gaming district. The announcement did not state whether the cluster involved staff, guests or casino floor operations, and no detail on that has been reported1. The Centre also did not announce any specific closure, testing or quarantine measure tied to either cluster in this update1.
What it means for players
The cluster count is the government's own measure of how far transmission has spread through the city, and it is the number that has driven Macao's testing and movement rules during this outbreak. For anyone in Macao, including locals, expats and visitors, a cluster attached to a casino hotel is a signal that the venue may become the subject of contact tracing, mandatory testing or access restrictions. This update does not say that any such measure has been applied to the Grand Lisboa Hotel, and no operating status for the property was given1. Visitors planning to gamble in Macao should treat the official cluster and case figures, not venue marketing, as the current picture of conditions on the ground. See Can I Gamble in Macau? for background on how the city's casinos are regulated and operated.
What happens next
No next steps were announced in this update1. The Centre gave no date for a further cluster count, no indication of when Cluster 17's link might be established, and no timeline for any measures at the Grand Lisboa Hotel1.
Sources1 sources
- NEWS GOV-MO: 流行病學調查情況, gcs.gov.mo
