Macau's number of non-resident workers fell by 10,787, or 5.5 percent, from 193,498 at the end of January to 182,711 at the end of last month, according to figures released by the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) today.
Macau recorded its first COVID-19 case on January 22. As part of the government's various measures against the novel coronavirus threat, foreign non-resident workers have been barred from entering Macau since March 18.
At the end of August, most foreign non-resident workers were from the Philippines (32,374) Vietnam (12,953), Indonesia (6,101), Nepal (4,230), and Myanmar (3,001).
Compatriots from the Chinese mainland (114,011), Hong Kong (4,105) and Taiwan (1,268), who accounted for 65.3 percent of the total number of non-resident workers at the end of last month, can enter Macau if they pass a nucleic acid test (NAT).
Business sources told The Macau Post Daily today that the " relatively slight" decline in non-resident workers was "clearly" due to the adverse impact by the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy.
Some 28.3 percent of Macau's non-resident workers at the end of last month were employed by the Hotel and restaurant sector, which made up the largest segment of Macau's "imported labour". The number of domestic helpers dropped by 1,098 from 30,923 at the end of January to 29,825 at the end of last month.
Macau has recorded 46 COVID-19 cases since January 22, none of them fatal. While 44 of the cases have been classified by the Health Bureau as imported, the bureau classified the remainder as "connected to imported cases."
Macau has not recorded a new COVID-19 case for 91 days, while no local case has been confirmed in 180 days.
