China sees new rise in Covid-19 cases during October Golden Week

China’s National Health Commission has reported more 1,483 new Covid-19 cases yesterday (October 6).

China.- The national Golden Week holiday period has seen a fresh increase in Covid-19 cases in mainland China. The period, which usually sees a large movement of tourists, has led to a steady increase in daily new cases, mostly asymptomatic.

China’s National Health Commission reported 1,000 new cases on October 5 and 1,483 on October 6, most of them in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.

Ahead of the holiday, China’s National Health Commission had urged people to avoid long-distance travel to avoid the risk of spreading Covid-19. However, some 91,509 people arrived in Macau in the first three days of October, up 1,595 per cent from the same period last year. It was the highest daily total since the local Covid-19 outbreak in mid-June.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), has said that while the tourist figures were encouraging, the recovery needed to be sustainable.

Anyone entering Macau from a mainland China area classified as “high risk” for the spread of Covid-19 must be quarantined at a designated facility upon arrival in Macau. High risk areas now include 25 of mainland China’s 31 provinces, autonomous regions and major cities.

Macau will retain position as largest gaming market, analysts say

Colin Mansfield, the sector head for US gaming, lodging and leisure at Fitch Ratings, has said that he expects Macau to remain the largest gaming market in the world and not to lose material share to other Asia Pacific thanks to the competitive advantages of proximity to mainland China and its size, with more than 40 casinos.

He cited the recovery of gambling markets in the US, Canada and Singapore, noting that once people were allowed to travel without restrictions, demand for gambling increased.

He told Macau Business: “Forecasting Macau is extremely challenging because we just don’t know when the demand will snap back, as it is mainly dependent on visitation […] we’re modelling gross gaming revenue to be about 70 per cent of 2019 levels by 2024, and 90 per cent by 2025. Obviously quite conservative but it’s very difficult to predict when visitation will snap back.”