Macau Locks Down The Grand Lisboa Hotel As Covid-19 Cases Surge: Report

The Lisboa owned by SJM Holdings, which was founded by former Macau tycoon Stanley Ho, is the second casino hotel to be locked down in the last few weeks.

The original casino at the Hotel Lisboa

The Grand Lisboa, one of Macau's most famous hotels, has been locked down due to a spike in COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. More than a dozen confirmed coronavirus cases were reported from The Grand Lisboa on Tuesday, as reported by Aljazeera. Since mid-June, Macau has recorded over 900 coronavirus cases which had been generally COVID-free since an outbreak in October 2021.

More than 13,000 individuals have been placed under quarantine as the city tries to contain its largest outbreak since the pandemic began.

The Lisboa owned by SJM Holdings, which was founded by former Macau tycoon Stanley Ho, is the second casino hotel to be locked down in the last few weeks.

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While the government has not imposed a full-scale lockdown, as witnessed in Chinese cities such as Shanghai, most amenities are closed, and eateries can only offer takeout. Residents have been asked to stay at home as much as possible and are required to take rapid antigen tests in-between. Only Macau's casinos have been allowed to remain open.

Macau follows China's 'Zero-Covid' policy, which tries to eradicate all outbreaks at nearly any cost, contradicting a global trend of attempting to coexist with the virus.

Macau launched the third round of mandatory Covid-19 testing for its more than 600,000 residents on Monday, in an attempt to curb a surge in infections in the world's largest gambling hub, as reported by Deccan Herald.