In Macau the first case of COVID-19 was reported on 22nd January (a visitor from Wuhan) and the Government quickly announced and implemented a series of measures to prevent further community spread. Measures included closing all casinos for 15 days in February. From 19th March, all visitors from overseas (except mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) have to be quarantined for 14 days and the measure was subsequently tightened further to include more regions afterwards. The strict series of measures effectively contained the virus compared to neighboring cities, but at the same time resulted in extremely low visitor numbers and dealt a severe blow to gaming revenue.

According to a press release from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), April gaming revenue stood at MOP754 million, compared with MOP23,588 million in April of the previous year, indicating a huge 96.8% drop. Gaming industry employees currently account for about 20% of the local workforce and taking closely related industries into account such as accommodation, food and beverage, etc., that proportion increases to over 50%, according to statistics from DSEC (Direcção dos Serviços de Estatística e Censos).

In other words, the gaming industry is closely bound with the economy of Macau.Therefore, given the seriousness of the economic crisis, the Macau Government has implemented several measures to support the local economy and help both enterprises and residents by granting extra funding and business loans to enterprises and extra cash incentives to residents. Over MOP10 billion was allocated to the support schemes, trying to minimize the impact of the pandemic on the economy, and maintain employment levels.