The Macau government has so far spent over 50 million patacas (US$6.2 million) on booking rooms in 12 local hotels for mandatory quarantine and medical observation, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said today.
Senna Fernandes revealed the amount to reporters on the sidelines of a standing committee meeting of the Macau Legislative Assembly (AL). She said that the government's expenditure on the so-called "quarantine hotels" was set to continue to rise with no end in sight. The number of hotels booked by the government for quarantine and medical observation has meanwhile been reduced from 12 to nine.
The mandatory quarantine lasts 14 days.
Pousada Marina Infante in Cotai became Macau's first quarantine hotel in late January. Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case on January 22. A total of 3,750 people have so far stayed at the quarantine hotels. While the mandatory quarantine is free of charge for local residents, non-locals need to pay 5,600 patacas for the 14-day stay. Home quarantine was discontinued by the government last month.
At its peak, the government's measure to book the 12 quarantine hotels comprised about 3,000 rooms, including 500 rooms of the 4,000-room Sheraton Grand in Cotai.
Macau has 44 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Almost all of the cases have been imported. There has been no novel coronavirus community outbreak and no deaths.
