Published: 18.02.2020, 18:55
1 min read
The biggest gambling city in the world, Macau, has closed all of its casinos on February 5th due to the coronavirus. The prohibition was set to last two weeks until February 19th. Since February 4th, there have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Macau and in total, there have been 10 cases and one was a casino employee. This Monday, TDM a public broadcaster has announced that casinos will begin operating starting February 20th.
Macau’s Casinos
Casinos were given 30 days by the government to become fully operational. The gambling industry is the main source of money for Macau accommodating over 50% of the government’s revenue. Businesses will most likely continue to be limited since Macau has imposed strict control on tourists through different transportation routes including the ferry arrivals from Hong Kong. Additionally, a lot of hotels have also been closed due to coronavirus.
At the start of the ban, it was not clear how long will the ban on casinos as well as other things continue since nobody knew hot the virus will be spreading. Macau’s revenues from gambling are constantly rising and projected to rise in the future years but the outbreak of the coronavirus will certainly have an impact on the economy that is entirely dependent on the gambling sector.
