Coronavirus: Macau casinos reopen to sparse crowds as punters hedge bets despite new health precautions
- Low-key return marked by tight rules, with gamblers kept apart from each other and made to wear masks
- Fewer than a third of tables open as casino floors appear desolate in city’s staggered return to gambling
Macau casinos were back in action on Thursday, though gaming floors were eerily quiet and largely empty, with the few gamblers on hand sitting far apart under strict new measures to guard against the spread of the coronavirus.
After a 15-day mandatory shutdown, 29 establishments opened their doors again at the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, with a raft of regulations covering those who wished to enter, including temperature checks, the compulsory wearing of masks and the submission of health declarations via mobile phone.
While no new Covid-19 cases have been reported since the order to close was given on February 4, after a hotel worker fell ill, the mood for gaming has not yet returned.
There were no queues as one of the city’s most popular casinos, the Grand Lisboa, welcomed guests again after half a month, just a handful of visitors gathered outside the main entrance.
At other major casinos visited by the Post on Thursday, many halls looked desolate.
