Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN APR 2020 22 on new measures aimed at preventing the outbreak of disease. That meeting was, IAG reported at the time, in response to a recent outbreak of pneumonia in nearby Wuhan and ensuing warnings from the Health Bureau that some local residents may have carried the virus back to Macau. Two days later, the DICJ said it would assist operators in the purchase of temperature detection equipment after Macau medical institutions revealed eight cases of patients who had recently traveled to and from Wuhan presenting with respiratory symptoms. It was 22 January when Macau announced its first confirmed case of what was now known to be a coronavirus, and only another 13 days until Macau ’ s Chief Executive made the stunning declaration that all 41 casinos (and all other gaming operations) in the Macau SAR would be closed for a period of 15 days to prevent the viral spread. Most have since re-opened, but with little resemblance to the thriving gaming floors that have typified Macau almost daily since the opening of Sands Macao signaled a new world order for the global casino industry in 2004. In the first month after casinos re-opened on 20 February, just 250,000 visitors entered Macau – a 92% decline on the average number of visitors to the city each month in 2019. LONG AND WINDING ROAD The news that Macau’s casino industry was shutting down, even if “only ” for 15 days, was met with widespread incredulity and it was no surprise to see IAG ’s breaking news story of that historic day quickly become our most viewed article of all time, with over 21,000 page views and being shared across social media around 7,500 times — staggering numbers COVER STORY