The government has ordered the suspension of all commercial and industrial business activities in the city for seven days starting from midnight of 11 July, except for those that maintain the normal operation of the society, Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon announced in a press conference today (Saturday).
Casinos are covered by the suspension, meaning that they also have to close for seven days, Mr. Cheong added.
The aim is to effectively bring the ongoing COVID-19 community outbreak under control.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the Macau SAR, the Chief Executive published an executive order in the Official Gazette on Saturday afternoon, ordering special measures to be applied between midnight on July 11 and midnight on July 18.
The executive order states that “all companies, entities and establishments that carry out industrial and commercial activities suspend operations”, with the exception of three types of activities.
The first one regards, “companies or entities that provide essential public services, namely those of water supply, electricity, natural gas and fuels, telecommunications, public transport and garbage collection, and those that provide services necessary for the indispensable functioning of society, namely those for hotel accommodation, cleaning and hygiene, building administration, wholesale trade and transport of basic goods for daily life”.
The second type of activity exempted is related to “establishments necessary to maintain the daily life of citizens, namely markets, supermarkets, restaurants, beverage establishments, food establishments, pharmacies and health care establishments” and third is “companies, entities or establishments that have been exceptionally authorized by the competent services”.
The Chief Executive order also indicates that “in the provision of their services, the companies, entities and establishments that may continue to operate referred to in the previous paragraph must limit the number of people to serve, ensuring the distance between people and requiring them to scan the QR Code of the establishment”.
Finally, the executive order also states that “all persons must remain at home, except for reasons of necessary work and purchase of basic goods for daily life or for other urgent reasons”. Those who leave home “have to wear a mask when they go out and adults must wear masks of type KN95 or higher standard”.
This comes as the number of COVID-19 cases recorded since the beginning of the current outbreak on June 18 reached 1,374, with 71 new cases being detected on Friday.
More to follow…
