{"id":18761,"date":"2021-06-08T15:57:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T15:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=18761"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T21:47:12","slug":"macau-considers-mass-testing-due-to-covid-19-cases-in-guangdong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-considers-mass-testing-due-to-covid-19-cases-in-guangdong","title":{"rendered":"Macau considers mass testing due to Covid-19 cases in Guangdong"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Authorities are worried that the rise in Covid-19 cases in Guandong could affect the city&#8217;s economic recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Macau.- The government is beginning to<strong>\u00a0look with concern at the increase in Covid-19 cases\u00a0<\/strong>in the neighbouring Guangdong Province, fearing that it could affect the slight recovery seen during the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-received-165500-visitors-arrivals-over-labour-day-break\">Labour Day break<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities <strong>implemented quarantine measures for arrivals from Guangdong\u00a0<\/strong>after\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-tightens-controls-amid-rise-in-covid-19-cases-in-guangdong\">new Covid-19 cases<\/a>\u00a0were registered. Now health officials are considering testing the entire city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lo Iek Long<\/strong>, Macau Health Bureau Director, is analysing if it would be necessary, and possible, to\u00a0<strong>carry out mass testing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the last 24 hours,<strong>\u00a05,000 people were tested, all of them were negative<\/strong>. However, the city does not want to take risks as casino operators hope the\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/mgm-china-expects-summer-holiday-period-to-boost-revenue\">summer holidays will boost revenue<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lo Iek Long said\u00a0<strong>650,000 residents could be tested within four days\u00a0<\/strong>and that he is seriously thinking about moving forward with the measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Macau health authorities have imposed a 14-day quarantine&nbsp;<\/strong>on people who have been in the districts of Haizhu, Liwan, Nansha, Panyu or Yuexiu in Guangzhou, or the Nanhai and Chancheng districts of Foshan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Those who have been in Guangzhou or Foshan in the previous 14 days are required to undergo a nucleic acid test<\/strong>. From June 8, people who want to enter Macau from Guandong must show a Covid-19 negative test issued within 48 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Macau recovery at risk amid new Covid-19 cases in Mainland China<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-ggr-up-24-3-in-may\">Macau GGR<\/a>\u00a0was up 24.3 per cent month-on-month in May, it declined in the last week of the month.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between May 31 and June 6,<strong>&nbsp;tourist entries and exits declined by 22.6 per cent&nbsp;<\/strong>to an average of 40,000 visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-ggr-to-drop-30-in-june-analysts-say\">Bernstein Research<\/a>\u00a0reported GGR of MOP1.35bn (US$169m) during the first week of June, down 26 per cent when compared to the previous week. Analysts predicted\u00a0<strong>GGR for June will be down<\/strong>\u00a030 per cent month-on-month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bernstein Research added<strong>\u00a0that Macau\u2019s GGR is usually weak in June<\/strong>\u00a0when compared to other months. They expect a further recovery within July and August during the summer holiday period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Morgan Stanley&nbsp;<\/strong>also cut its forecast for&nbsp;<strong>Macau gross gaming revenue (GGR) this year by 19 per cent<\/strong>&nbsp;to US$16.3bn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Previously, analysts had said&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-ggr-to-reach-us23-6bn-in-2021-analysts-say\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Macau GGR<\/a>&nbsp;could reach&nbsp;<strong>MOP189bn (US$23.6bn)<\/strong>, about 65 per cent of GGR in 2019. However, it\u2019s lowered its forecast to&nbsp;<strong>just 45 per cent of 2019 levels<\/strong>, although that would still be an improvement of 115.4 per cent in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Macau casino operators launch vaccination programmes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Casino operators continue to <strong>encourage people to get vaccinated<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/galaxy-entertainment-launches-vaccination-plan-in-macau\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Galaxy Entertainment<\/a><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>will launch a&nbsp;<strong>vaccination point inside its property to vaccinate 1,500 to 1,800 team members<\/strong>&nbsp;and their family members between June 10 and June 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All those Galaxy Entertainment employees who get vaccinated with the first and the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will get&nbsp;<strong>up to two days of \u201cspecial vaccine leave\u201d to rest<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Galaxy Entertainment said : \u201c[The company] would like to take this opportunity to<strong>\u00a0encourage team members and the public to work together\u00a0<\/strong>and show our best in preventing and controlling the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Casino operators\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/morgan-stanley-cuts-forecast-for-macau-ggr\">MGM China<\/a>\u00a0and Sands China have already hosted\u00a0<strong>vaccination services<\/strong>.\u00a0<strong>MGM saw 1,200 of its employees get vaccinated<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Kenneth Xiaofeng<\/strong>, MGM China President and CFO, stated: \u201cWe will continue to talk to the government to see what kind of programmes we might continue to develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe will closely follow the government, directives to&nbsp;<strong>make sure more and more employees get the vaccine<\/strong>&nbsp;so that mainland visitors can have more and more confidence in visiting Macau.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-melco-awards-staff-that-receive-covid-19-vaccine\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Melco Resorts<\/a>&nbsp;launched an&nbsp;<strong>\u201cimmunity incentive programme\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong>to encourage its employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19. It will give&nbsp;<strong>each employee a bonus of MOP1,000 (US$125)&nbsp;<\/strong>after getting the vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who get the vaccine could also<strong>&nbsp;win MOP1m once the company has reached certain immunity targets<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authorities are worried that the rise in Covid-19 cases in Guandong could affect the city&#8217;s economic recovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":18780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Macau's gaming sector faces renewed headwinds as a surge in COVID-19 cases in Guangdong province threatens the nascent GGR recovery, prompting potential mass testing and stricter travel protocols. This has led to downward revisions in GGR forecasts, while major casino operators are proactively deploying employee vaccination programs and incentives to mitigate operational risks and bolster future visitor confidence.","focusai_entities":"Lo Iek Long, Bernstein Research, Morgan Stanley, Galaxy Entertainment, MGM China, Kenneth Xiaofeng, Sands China, Melco Resorts","focusai_location":"Macau, China, Guangdong, Guangzhou, Foshan","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (0.7), operator_casino (1.0), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"GGR Forecast Revisions","query":"Given the revised GGR forecasts by Bernstein and Morgan Stanley, what are the specific downside risks to Q2 and Q3 2021 earnings for the major Macau concessionaires, and what sensitivity analyses are being conducted regarding further travel restrictions and their impact on visitation volumes?"},{"label":"Operator Vaccination Efficacy","query":"How are Macau casino operators measuring the efficacy of their employee vaccination programs in terms of reducing transmission risk and, more critically, in influencing mainland Chinese visitor confidence and subsequent GGR recovery metrics?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,158],"tags":[23906],"class_list":["post-18761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-slider-home","tag-macau-casinos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18761"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18793,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18761\/revisions\/18793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}