Coronavirus fear levels are decreasing, as it seems that the worst part is now behind us. It means that China can slowly start to restore the province of Hubei to its former state of affairs.
Yet, things still need to be kept under control heavily. Nevertheless, one of the areas that was mildly affected by the virus, Macau, will re-open its casinos that had been instructed to close at the peak of coronavirus.
The special administrative region is now slowly recovering and starting all operations once again. All casinos will open their doors at Midnight on Feb. 20, according to a report made by Macau Business. This piece of information came from Lei Wai Nong, Secretary for Economy and Finance.
However, the “business as usual” rule will not be applied to the casinos. Some things will still have to be kept under control, and that’s why the officials instructed all visitors and casino workers to wear masks, just like they did in the period before the shutdown.
Moreover, a couple of additional measures are going to be introduced to casinos, and one of them is adding more space between gaming tables.
All casinos in Macau were forced to close their doors on Feb. 5 for a fortnight to make sure no further spreading of coronavirus would take place in the area. At the time the properties were instructed to shut down, the officials stated that there would be a possibility of an extended shutdown period, depending on the whole situation with the virus.
Just one week after that, the analysts predicted that the period of casinos not operating could actually extend.
What’s The Situation Like in Macau Right Now?
A total of 10 cases of coronavirus were reported in the administrative division of Macau, and five of them were actually from Wuhan, which is the epicenter of the virus. All of the five cases from Wuhan recovered successfully and went home to their families. Since the casino shutdown, there have been no new cases reported in Macau.
The fact that the casinos would open their doors soon is great news, mainly for those casino operators who already lost a lot by shutting the doors for 15 days. According to some estimates made by Wynn Resorts, they were effectively losing $2.5 million daily for every closed day in Macau.
Even when the casinos were working, the number of visitors was not that high, and a 75% year-on-year decline was reported. Nevertheless, now the casinos would be able to create at least some revenue than no revenue at all.
Macau will definitely need some time to recover from this blow that really affected all the operations in the area. However, it’s not always about money — workers’ safety and well-being come first, and by closing the doors, the casinos made a huge step towards stopping the coronavirus from spreading further in the area.
