A man wearing a face mask walks along the waterfront as city's skyline lights up in the background, in Macao, on Jan 30, 2020. (PHILIP FONG / AFP)
HONG KONG - Macao has extended its entry ban on foreign nationals to include people from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong who have visited foreign countries in the past 14 days.
The new measure is part of a series of new entry rules announced on Tuesday. They will all take effect on Wednesday when Macau International Airport will stop accepting transit passengers.
At a press conference, Chief Executive of Macao Ho lat-seng said the new measures were introduced to coordinate with Hong Kong’s new entry control measures. Ho said that the Macao government would beef up preventive and control measures against the coronavirus outbreak at any cost.
Chief Executive of Macao Ho lat-seng said the new measures were introduced to coordinate with Hong Kong’s new entry control measures
"The government assures all Macao citizens it will do a good job in epidemic prevention at any cost," Ho added.
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Macao residents who have traveled Hong Kong, Taiwan and foreign countries in the past 14 days will be required to undergo medical surveillance at designated places after entering the city. Previously, the requirement only applied to those who have traveled to the Chinese mainland.
In addition, non-residents of Chinese nationality who have been to Hong Kong and Taiwan in the past 14 days will be placed under a medical surveillance after entering the city. Before Wednesday, only those who have visited the Chinese mainland are required to do so.
Hong Kong on Monday announced a ban on foreign non-residents from entering at the airport for 14-days and visitors from the Chinese mainland, Macao and Taiwan also would be denied entry if found to have traveled abroad in the past 14 days.
Although Macao's casinos have reopened after a two-week suspension in February, revenues have plummeted by almost 90 percent, hit by visit curbs and health regulations.
READ MORE: Macao gaming revenue suffers record plunge from virus blow
Visitors to Macao dropped 96 percent in Feb on the year, while its government slashed a forecast for annual gross gaming revenue by 56 percent, to 130 billion patacas (US$16.3 billion), from 260 billion estimated last year.
More than 80 percent of MacaO’s revenue comes from casinos. Operators Wynn Macau, Sands China, MGM China, Melco Resorts, SJM Holdings and Galaxy Entertainment are all bleeding between US$1.5 million and US$4 million a day to keep their properties running.
A total of 15 imported infection cases have been reported in Macao in the past ten days, bringing the city’s tally to 25. Before March 14, no infection case was recorded for 39 consecutive days.
With Reuters inputs
