Macau reimposes COVID curbs with casino lockdown as infections creep up

Authorities locked down the MGM Cotai casino resort owned by MGM China on Sunday with staff and guests ordered to stay inside until November 1.

Reuters

October 31, 2022 / 10:05 IST

Representative image.

Macau authorities reinstated tough COVID-19 curbs including locking down a major casino over the weekend after a handful of cases were detected, even as China announced a loosening of visa rules for visitors to the world's biggest gambling hub.

Authorities locked down the MGM Cotai casino resort owned by MGM China on Sunday with staff and guests ordered to stay inside until November 1. All of Macau's 700,000 residents are mandated to take rapid antigen tests daily during the period, the government said.

The casino closure deals a blow to operators who have already been grappling with China's "zero COVID" restrictions for more than two and a half years, losing millions of dollars monthly.

Macau has been coronavirus-free for more than three months until last week. The swift return of curbs marks a potential setback for industry executives and investors who were keen for a quick recovery in gambling revenues in the Chinese special administrative region.

The prospects for travel to Macau have improved, however, with China's immigration bureau saying on Monday that mainland residents would be able to use an online visa system from Nov. 1 to travel to the former Portuguese colony.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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