Casino Guests Face Extended Stay in Macau as China’s Covid-19 Lockdowns Spread

The new measures in Macau are the latest setback for the gambling hub, where pandemic restrictions have prevented many tourists from entering the city, sapping the gambling revenue that is the lifeblood of Macau’s economy. During the first five months of the year, the number of overseas visitors to Macau fell 9% from a year ago to about 3 million, according to official figures. In May alone, as China imposed lockdowns on parts of the mainland, the number of visitors plummeted 31%.

Macau is home to numerous casinos run by U.S. gaming giants, including

Las Vegas Sands Corp.

and

Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Shares of Las Vegas Sands are down 42% during the past year, while Wynn shares have fallen 57%.

China is struggling to balance some of the world’s most aggressive Covid-control measures with the impact on the economy, which has seen growth slow. Shanghai was particularly hard-hit by a two-month lockdown in April and May that shut shops and factories and kept the city’s 25 million residents at home.

On Tuesday, Macau authorities reported 47 positive Covid-19 cases in the city, up from 34 cases on Monday.

The 342-room Hotel Fortuna, located in Macau’s northern peninsula, was placed under lockdown along with 11 other locations across the city, according to an official notice from the Macau government. The lockdown order bars people from leaving and mandates a daily Covid test for those inside for seven days.

An employee at the hotel reached by phone said several hundred guests were being kept in the hotel as of Tuesday morning. The employee, who declined to be identified, said he didn’t know when the guests could leave and the hotel was awaiting additional information from the government. The Macau government didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

On Sunday, Macau authorities said they would open 53 testing centers across the city to conduct rapid tests of all of the city’s residents over two days. Restaurants were ordered to suspend dine-in services, schools were closed and only people possessing a negative test could leave the city.

In announcing the new measures, the Macau government described the city as “at extremely high risk of suffering a community outbreak.” Authorities on Tuesday said they had collected more than 677,000 samples in the testing drive, with 21 preliminary positive cases showing up in the results.

In neighboring Hong Kong, authorities have loosened rules following an outbreak early this year that left the city with one of the highest death rates in the world at the time. Since then, authorities have shown higher tolerance for cases than on mainland China, with health officials reporting more than 1,000 locally transmitted cases a day in recent days.

—Zhao Yueling contributed to this article.

Write to Dan Strumpf at [email protected]

The new measures in Macau are the latest setback for the gambling hub, where pandemic restrictions have prevented many tourists from entering the city, sapping the gambling revenue that is the lifeblood of Macau’s economy. During the first five months of the year, the number of overseas visitors to Macau fell 9% from a year ago to about 3 million, according to official figures. In May alone, as China imposed lockdowns on parts of the mainland, the number of visitors plummeted 31%.

Macau is home to numerous casinos run by U.S. gaming giants, including

Las Vegas Sands Corp.

and

Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Shares of Las Vegas Sands are down 42% during the past year, while Wynn shares have fallen 57%.

China is struggling to balance some of the world’s most aggressive Covid-control measures with the impact on the economy, which has seen growth slow. Shanghai was particularly hard-hit by a two-month lockdown in April and May that shut shops and factories and kept the city’s 25 million residents at home.

On Tuesday, Macau authorities reported 47 positive Covid-19 cases in the city, up from 34 cases on Monday.

The 342-room Hotel Fortuna, located in Macau’s northern peninsula, was placed under lockdown along with 11 other locations across the city, according to an official notice from the Macau government. The lockdown order bars people from leaving and mandates a daily Covid test for those inside for seven days.

An employee at the hotel reached by phone said several hundred guests were being kept in the hotel as of Tuesday morning. The employee, who declined to be identified, said he didn’t know when the guests could leave and the hotel was awaiting additional information from the government. The Macau government didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

On Sunday, Macau authorities said they would open 53 testing centers across the city to conduct rapid tests of all of the city’s residents over two days. Restaurants were ordered to suspend dine-in services, schools were closed and only people possessing a negative test could leave the city.

In announcing the new measures, the Macau government described the city as “at extremely high risk of suffering a community outbreak.” Authorities on Tuesday said they had collected more than 677,000 samples in the testing drive, with 21 preliminary positive cases showing up in the results.

In neighboring Hong Kong, authorities have loosened rules following an outbreak early this year that left the city with one of the highest death rates in the world at the time. Since then, authorities have shown higher tolerance for cases than on mainland China, with health officials reporting more than 1,000 locally transmitted cases a day in recent days.

—Zhao Yueling contributed to this article.

Write to Dan Strumpf at [email protected]