The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) announced today that the number of hotels and guesthouses temporarily closed because of a lack of guests and personnel due to the COVID-19 epidemic has reached 26.
According to official statistics, Macau had 123 hotels and guesthouses at the end of last year.
Among the 26 units, three closed their doors today.
MGTO official Ines Chan Lou announced the figures during a daily press conference by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre about the novel coronavirus threat.
The 26 units include eight four- and five-star hotels, Chan said. The five-star hotels that decided to temporarily cease operating include the Four Seasons, Sofitel Ponte 16, and Altira. Chan said the hotel sectors' average occupany rate had fallen to 16 percent between February 1 and 7.
Meanwhile, officials at the press conference also revealed that 11,000 non-resident workers crossed Macau-mainland border checkpoints yesterday.
However, the officials pointed out that the number has fallen by some 70 percent from 35,000 "border shuttlers" a day before the government had urged employers early this month to provide temporary accommodation for their non-resident workers in Macau so that they wouldn't need to cross the checkpoints every day.
Tens of thousands of Macau's nearly 200,000 non-resident workers live in Zhuhai where housing is cheaper than here.
