Macau was expected to lift most of its coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday after the casino hub’s gaming revenue hit its lowest level on record.
The former Portuguese colony is the only area in China where casinos are allowed, and its multi-billion dollar gaming industry was larger than Las Vegas until recently.
But the sector has taken a hit in recent years not only from the coronavirus pandemic but also from a Beijing-led crackdown on corruption.
According to the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, gross gaming revenue fell to 398 million patacas ($49 million) in July, the lowest since records began in 2009.
It was slightly better than analysts’ expectations, according to Bloomberg, but was still 98 percent below pre-pandemic levels.
Macau’s casinos were shut down for 10 days in July as the city was placed under a three-week “static administration” modeled on mainland China’s Covid-19 lockdowns.
Public services and commercial activities have been suspended and residents have not been allowed to leave the house except to take a mandatory Covid test or buy essentials.
Most restrictions will be lifted on Tuesday as the city has not recorded a new infection for nine days, the government said on Monday.
Official bodies will resume full operations, as will commercial activities – on condition that customers present a negative Covid test within the last 72 hours.
Though casinos reopened more than a week before other businesses, the way out of the slump will depend on Macau resuming quarantine-free travel from mainland China — its biggest source of revenue.
Under China’s strict zero-Covid policy, Macau must remain nearly infection-free to reopen its border.
“They’re stuck in this zero-Covid situation where it’s unclear when the government is actually going to do anything about it,” Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Vitaly Umansky told Bloomberg.
“The reality is that there is no one in Macau right now.”
The city recently launched the bidding process for six gaming licenses following legislative reform to reduce the concession period from 20 to 10 years and strengthen local ownership and government oversight.
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