Macau shuts down casinos following Covid outbreak

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The world's biggest gambling hub closed all of its casinos for the first time in more than two years after a coronaviruses outbreak.

Over 30 casinos have been ordered to close for a week by authorities.

According to official figures, the city has recorded over 1,500 Covid cases in the last month.

Concerns of tougher rules in the Chinese special administrative region led to a decline in gaming shares.

Since early 2020, the city has had an outbreak of Covid-19.

Bars and cinemas had already been closed.

Macau's Government Information Bureau said over the weekend that businesses would have to suspend their operations if they were deemed essential to the community.

According to the bureau, the latest step is to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the community.

People have been told to stay at home and not eat out.

More than 85% of Macau's residents have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine. The city is facing the fast-spreading Omicron variant for the first time, but it's not clear how many have received their booster doses.

In recent weeks, officials have set up a makeshift hospital and turned several casino resorts into medical facilities, as the former Portuguese colony only has one public hospital.

They locked down apartment buildings and hotels because of the infections.

Macau is following China's strict "zero Covid" strategy, where a small number of cases have led to mass testing, forced quark and lock downs.

Macau has not imposed the kind of city-wide lock-down seen in mainland China, but most services have been stopped.

Terry Ng, an equity research analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets Hong Kong, said that Macau was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He said that mainland Chinese tourists accounted for more than 70% of all tourists and more than 85% of gross gaming revenue.

Gambling is legal in Macau, a special administrative region of China, even though it is not legal in mainland China.

The Macau casino shares fell on Monday.

By mid-day in Hong Kong, shares in Sands China were down 7%. The company was founded by the late Stanley Ho.