Since the reopening of casino venues in Macau last month, an overall of 3,100 gaming tables, which represent 46% of the overall number of tables, have started operation.
The casino gambling offering in the Asian gambling hub resumed their activities on February 20th, following the SAR Government’s decision to impose an obligatory 15-day ban on casino offering to prevent the spreading of the dangerous coronavirus. According to data provided by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, a total of 38 casinos had resumed their operations in the period from February 20th to March 9th, with only once casino venue not filing a petition to resume activity. Also, two other casinos remain closes, as they had been shut before the announcement of the local Government’s decision.
The regulatory body revealed that since the reopening, a number of inspections have been carried out in the casinos. As a result, its officers have caught 28 cases of violation of the guidelines of the Health Bureau, most of which regarded the arrangement and distance between gaming tables and seats. Some of the non-compliance cases were also related to the fact that some casino customers choosing not to wear protective masks as required.
Macau Government Has Imposed Casino Venues Restrictions to Prevent Spreading of Covid-19
Before the operations of Macau casinos were resumed, the Government imposed some restrictions on the venues, with gambling operators being required to adopt some measures to prevent the spreading of the Covid-19 infection, including the obligatory use of face masks and filing out health declaration forms. Operators were also obliged to make sure they check the body temperature of their customers at casino entrances, as well as an increase in space between gaming tables in order not to allow a large number of people to stay close to each other in a small area.
The casino operators in Macau were allowed to reopen their gambling venues on February 20th, but they had a choice not to do that by filing an application for a grace period. Six casino concessionaires could ask the SAR Government for a closure extension period for a maximum of 30 days, during which they would be given the chance to remain closed for customers. After the extension period is brought to an end, casino operators would be required to start operating as they normally do.
The recent closure of local casino venues was pointed as one of the main reasons because of which the gross gaming revenue of the city fell by the staggering 87.8% from the result it announced a year ago. According to experts from JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific), a little improvement is expected in March, but the analysts shared that gambling revenue may still decline by as much as 80%.
On the other hand, the gross gaming revenue performance of the Macau gambling sector in April is set to be influenced by a number of factors, including the possible annulment of the restrictions to issuing the Individual Visit Scheme permits for China mainland residents to travel to Macau or Hong Kong would be lifted.
