Macau mandates residents to undergo three days of rapid Covid tests

Covid In Macau: All residents will begin taking rapid tests Sunday after the detection of three new cases, according to a government statement dated the same day.

Macau will require residents to undergo three days of rapid Covid tests, dampening hopes that the enclave would soon begin to allow tourists from mainland China.

Covid In Macau A security guard controls the entrance to a bank in the Fai Chi Kei area. (Bloomberg)

All residents will begin taking rapid tests Sunday after the detection of three new cases, according to a government statement dated the same day. A 43-year old woman tested positive for the virus along with her two sons, it said. She had visited a mall in Zhuhai and works at the casino resort MGM Cotai, an earlier statement noted.

The move to roll out mass testing comes as the city on Wednesday detected its first new infection in about two months. Macau had already begun testing in some areas Wednesday afternoon after health officials said at a briefing that a positive patient recently traveled between Macau and Zhuhai numerous times.

An Oktoberfest festival event Sunday at MGM has been canceled in order to comply with the government’s pandemic control measures, according to a statement on the hospitality and gaming firm’s Facebook page.

Macau’s adherence to Covid Zero means that new infections may risk derailing reopening efforts. Local media reported earlier that the city had given guidelines to travel agents on resuming group tours from mainland China, boosting casino stocks. Both Macau and Zhuhai will require a negative nucleic acid test within 24 hours before entry until Nov. 5, according to the authorities.

The enclave endured an almost two-week city-wide shutdown in the summer that closed casinos, while the mainland’s tightening of outbound travel rules and its own outbreaks throttled the gambling hub’s tourism lifeline.