On a Tuesday in early February 2020, the government of Macau asked all 41 of the city’s casinos to close for half a month. It was the first time the world’s largest gambling hub had ever shuttered its gaming floors, and the order came when just 10 people in the territory had fallen ill with the new coronavirus.
Ho Iat Seng, the territory’s chief executive, framed the call as a matter of public health. “Of course this was a difficult decision,” he told a televised news conference, dressed in a suit and wearing a blue face mask. The trigger was a hotel worker at Galaxy Casino, one of the city’s busiest gambling houses, who had shared shuttle buses and a casino cafeteria with colleagues. Ho said the case showed the virus was beginning to move through the community.
Gambling supplies four-fifths of the Macau government’s revenue, but Ho said the territory could absorb the hit. “Macau can still bear these economic losses,” he said, urging residents to stay home except to get food. “This is not a holiday,” he added.
The order landed at the most lucrative moment of the year. It came around Lunar New Year, when mainland Chinese tourists crowd the city’s baccarat tables, and visits had already dropped 80 percent, according to Fitch Ratings. Macau, a former Portuguese colony handed back to China in 1999, is the only part of the country where casino gambling is legal, and its gross gaming revenue totaled $36.5 billion the prior year, roughly six times the take of the Las Vegas Strip.
Consultants described the stakes in blunt terms. Carlos Lobo, a lawyer and gambling consultant, said he had never seen anything like it in his 25 years in the city. Matthew Ossolinski, another consultant and investor, called the short-term impact “devastating” and estimated that the two-week closure could cut Macau’s gaming revenue for the year by 5 to 15 percent. “Macau remains the golden goose,” he said.
The American operators with properties in the territory fell in line. Michael Weaver, a spokesman for Wynn Resorts, said the company backed the government’s move. “Our greatest concern and our top priority is the health and safety of our employees, their families and the citizens of Macau,” he said. Ron Reese, a spokesman for Sands, said the “health and safety of our team members and guests remains our number one priority.”
By then the virus had killed at least 490 people across mainland China, plus one each in the Philippines and in Hong Kong, Macau’s neighbor.
Sources
- Coronavirus Shuts Macau, the World’s Gambling Capital – The New York Times
- Macau casinos to close for a week starting Monday because of COVID-19 outbreak – The Nevada Independent
