Macau's hotel occupancy drops to 16% as casino shuttle bus drivers becomes focus of Coronavirus tests - IAG

Wednesday 12th February 2020

The hotel occupancy rate in Macau fell to just 16% in the week from 1 to 7 February due to the impact of the Coronavirus, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) announced at a press conference on Wednesday.

Three more guesthouses decided to suspend operation from 12 February, taking the total number of hotel establishments to stop taking guests to 26. These comprise a combined 2,974 rooms in eight hotels and 18 guesthouses.

The number of tourists also keeps decreasing. As reported by Inside Asian Gaming earlier this week, Macau reached an all-time low in terms of daily visitation of 2,800 last Saturday, however that unwanted record was broken once again on Tuesday as visitor numbers fell to just 2,600.

Meanwhile, the Health Bureau (SS) is applying Coronavirus tests for all casino shuttle bus drivers, stating the drivers "meet a majority of tourists and are at high risk of infection than general bus drivers".

More than 200 casino shuttle bus drivers have now received tests although so far none have tested positive,

With the number of confirmed cases in Macau holding steady at 10 since the closure of all casinos on 5 February, the government also revealed that the second of those infected has now fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital. The 21-year-old female patient is from Wuhan and was confirmed to have the virus on 26 January. The patient left Macau on Wednesday under police escort