Residential property prices drop 0.8 pct last year

Macau’s average price per square metre of usable area of residential units dropped 0.8 percent year-on-year to 107,522 patacas (US$13,440) last year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today. The average price of existing residential units (100,977 patacas) rose 3.9 percent, while the average price of pre-sale residential units (142,487 patacas) dipped 0.1 percent.The average price per square metre of office units fell 33.8 percent year-on-year to 108,407 patacas. The average

February 19, 2020 | BY admin

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Hotel occupancy falls to 11.6 pct over COVID-19 threat: MGTO

The average room occupancy rate of Macau's hotels and guesthouses fell to 11.6 percent between February 1-14, Ines Chan Lou, head of the Licensing and Inspection Department of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), said today. Chan revealed the figure during the daily press conference by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. The number of hotels and guesthouse closed in response to the novel coronavirus threat

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Residential property prices drop 0.8 pct last year

Macau's average price per square metre of usable area of residential units dropped 0.8 percent year-on-year to 107,522 patacas (US$13,440) last year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today. The average price of existing residential units (100,977 patacas) rose 3.9 percent, while the average price of pre-sale residential units (142,487 patacas) dipped 0.1 percent. The average price per square metre of office units fell 33.8 percent year-on-year to 108,407 patacas. The

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau's Procession of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus cancelled over COVID-19 threat

This year's Procession of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus has been cancelled "in view of the continuing [noval coronavirus] epidemic and the call of public health precautions," the chancery of Macau's Roman-Catholic diocese announced today. The procession had been slated from February 29 to March 1. According to a statement received by The Macau Post Daily from the chancery this afternoon, the diocese has decided to prolong a string of COVID-19 epidemic prevention measures.

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Armed gang steals toilet rolls in panic-buying HK

HONG KONG – A gang of knife-wielding men jumped a delivery driver in Hong Kong and stole hundreds of toilet rolls, police said yesterday, in a city wracked by shortages caused by novel coronavirus-induced panic-buying.Toilet rolls have become hot property in the densely packed business hub, despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak.Supermarkets have found themselves unable to restock quickly enough, leading to sometimes lengthy queues and shelves

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Snapshots of daily life as city fights COVID-19

People queue up outside a bank in the city centre.Residents queue outside the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) in Nam Van as the government has resumed its basic services, requiring the public to present a health declaration via a QR code upon entering public administration premises.A QR code for residents to scan to fill out a digital health declaration form is on display outside the General Post Office.Shoppers crowd a clothing shop in the city centre.A “strong warning” by the government

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Mainland gambler cheated out of HK$2.2 million: PJ

A casino gambler from the mainland told the Judiciary Police (PJ) early this month that he had been cheated out of HK$2.2 million (US$275,000) in winnings by a fellow mainlander, PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man said during a press conference yesterday.According to Chan, the victim had transferred 500,000 yuan from his mainland bank account to the account of a 58-year-old mainland businessman surnamed Yu as a security deposit on January 25, so that Yu would take the victim to gamble in local

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Coach drivers ask Ho for help over COVID-19 crisis

A group of coach drivers asked Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng yesterday to tide them over during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Representatives of the group handed a petition letter to an official outside Government Headquarters, accompanied by veteran lawmaker-cum-unionist José Maria Pereira Coutinho, who heads the Macau Civil Servants Association (ATFPM) but often also defends the interests of workers from the private sector.According to a statement sent to The Macau Post Daily, the

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Local man claims he’s from Wuhan after shoplifting

When a suspected supermarket thief was caught by an off-duty senior police officer and a security guard on Saturday, he yelled, “I am from Wuhan” and “I am mentally ill”, after which he was taken to hospital to be tested for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Choi Iok Kin said during a press conference yesterday. The suspect is a 30-year-old unemployed local resident surnamed Chao. On Saturday around noon, Chao went shopping in a supermarket in

February 18, 2020 | BY admin

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Govt imposes 14-day quarantine on migrant workers

The Macau government announced today that migrant workers who have been in mainland China two weeks before their intended entry into Macau need to go into 14 days of quarantine first. The measure was announced by senior officials during the daily press conference by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre about the COVID-19 epidemic. The officials said non-resident workers (as migrant workers are officially known in Macau) arriving from Zhuhai must first go into 14 days of

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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Casinos can reopen on Thursday, given up to 30 days to return to full operation

Addressing yesterday’s daily press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong announced that the city’s casinos can reopen for business on Thursday, following their 15-day government-ordered closure to reduce the risk of the spread of the highly infectious disease.Lei said that casinos that are not “fully prepared” to relaunch their operations right away can apply to defer reopening their doors for up to 30 days.

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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Judiciary Police warn of ‘Tripping Jump Challenge’

Online videos of a dangerous prank called “Tripping Jump Challenge” are circulating around the world, particularly by teenagers on social networking platforms, the Judiciary Police (PJ) warned in a statement at the weekend, urging Macau’s youngsters not to mimic the prank.According to Saturday’s statement, the prank, in which two people get the person in the centre to jump, the two on either side of the victim then kick the legs of the person in the middle causing the “victim” to

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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Solidarity, not stigma: editorial

I fully agree with World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that concerning the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic “this is the time for solidarity, not stigma”. Significantly, Tedros (Ethiopian people’s names end in a patronymic rather than a family name the same as Chinese names) made the remarks during a visit to Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where he met with President Felix Tshisekedi to brief

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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Melco, Gung Luen set up fund for workers affected by COVID-19 epidemic

Melco Resorts & Entertainment has donated five million patacas for the setting up of a special aid fund in collaboration with the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM) to help workers with unstable incomes and are being affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the gaming operator said in a statement yesterday.The federation is generally known as Gung Luen, its name in Cantonese.According to the statement, the initiative is an addition to the gaming company’s HK$20 million donation to Wuhan and

February 17, 2020 | BY admin

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