Safety first! Editorial

EDITORIAL Macau will turn another page in its successful fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) when the civil service will resume its “normal” functioning today after a nearly month-long hiatus. Moreover, Macau’s non-gaming entertainment businesses such as bars and nightclubs have been allowed to reopen for business since last night after their government-ordered shutdown on February 5 as one of the government’s various measures to prevent the virus from spreading in one

March 2, 2020 | BY admin

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Online facemask scammer mulls suicide: police

A local 20-year-old unemployed man, who goes by the name “Ekko” on social media and cheated at least 27 people out of 25,000 patacas in an online scam selling facemasks, told the police he wanted to commit suicide because of the fear that he would be caught soon as the police had detected similar facemasks scams recently,Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said during a special press conference on Saturday.According to Ho, the suspect said he wanted to jump off a building to end his

March 2, 2020 | BY admin

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Libraries, museums to reopen gradually from today

Macau’s public libraries, museums and other cultural venues will gradually and partially reopen today, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has announced. According to an IC statement on Saturday, most of the libraries will reopen at 2 p.m. today. The reading room of the Macau Archives will also reopen today.The libraries’ newspaper and magazine reading rooms will reduce their usual number of seats by half. The libraries will be closed every four hours for 30 minutes for cleaning. Initially,

March 2, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau gaming receipts fall 87.8 pct in February

Macau's gross gaming revenues fell 87.8 percent year-on-year to 3.1 billion patacas last month, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) announced today. In February last year, the city's gross gaming revenues stood at 25.37 billion patacas.It was the gaming industry's steepest monthly year-on-year gross revenue fall on record since the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in December 1999, an official source told The Macau Post Daily

March 1, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau jail to resume visitations

The Macau Correctional Services Bureau (DSC) has announced that visitations to the prison and juvenile detention centre will be resumed on Wednesday, "taking into account the development of the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic and citizens' needs for public services."The visitations were suspended early last month in response to the COVID-19 threat. Eight of Macau's 10 novel coronavirus patients have meanwhile been discharged from hospital. The last COVID-19 cases were

March 1, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau's exports, imports fall in January

Macau's exports and imports fell last month, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today. According to a DSEC statement, total exports fell 24.8 percent to 1.15 billion patacas (US$143 million) in January. While domestic exports rose 9.8 percent to 153 million patacas, re-exports fell 28.3 percent to 995 million patacas. Re-exports accounted for 86.6 percent of total exports. Some 72.9 percent of Macau's exports were shipped to Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Imports

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Libraries, museums to reopen gradually from Monday

Macau's public libraries, museums and other cultural venues will gradually and partially reopen from Monday, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) announced today.According to an IC statement, most of the libraries will reopen at 2 p.m. on Monday. The reading room of the Macau Archives will also reopen on Monday.The libraries' newspaper and magazine reading rooms will reduce their usual number of seats by half. The libraries will be closed every four hours for 30 minutes for cleaning. Initially, the

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau to airlift residents stranded in Hubei

The Macau government said today it will airlift "50 to 60" local residents stranded in Hubei province in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic.Health Bureau (SSM) Director Lei Chin Ion announced the airlift at the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre's daily press conference. Lei said that a plane chartered by the local government was slated to fly to the provincial capital Wuhan next Friday or Saturday. A total of 29 Macau residents are in Wuhan, according to the

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau issues Italy travel warning

The Macau government's Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) issued today a Level 2 Travel Alert to Italy. The office said it in a statement that it was alerting "Macau residents who intend to travel to, or are already in that country [Italy] to reconsider the current travel plans."It is suggested to avoid non-essential travel to the destination," the statement said, adding that the office would "keep monitoring the latest developments of the

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Retail sales rise 0.5 pct in 2019

Macau's retail sales rose 0.5 percent year-on-year to 77.18 billion patacas (US$9.64 billion), the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today. Watches and jewellery (15.85 billion patacas), goods sold in department stores (13.34 billion patacas) and leather goods (10.28 billion patacas) accounted for 20.5 percent, 17.3 percent and 13.3 percent respectively. Sales of automotive fuels and cosmetics and sanitary articles grew 11.6 percent and 9.5 percent respectively, while

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau GDP shrinks 4.7 pct in 2019

Macau's gross domestic product shrank 4.7 percent in real terms last year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today. It was Macau's first negative GDP growth in three years. In 2018 and 2017 the economy grew 5.4 percent and 9.9 percent respectively, after three consecutive years of negative growth. Today's DSEC statement noted that Macau has experienced negative growth since the first quarter of 2019 due to decreases in investment and exports of services. Domestic

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Oversea Mama PH is 'unauthorised' financial entity in Macau

The Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) said in a statement yesterday that the "Oversea Mama PH" money transfer service from Macau to the Philippines through a social media account "is not authorised to carry out regulated financial activities in the Macau Special Administrative Region" (MSAR).  According to an AMCM statement, only authorised financial institutions are allowed to carry out regulated financial activities in Macau," according to the Macau Financial

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Macau imposes quarantine on arrivals from Iran, Italy

The Macau government has imposed 14-day medical surveillance in isolation on arrivals who have been to Italy or Iran in the past 14 days prior to their entry into Macau. According to a statement by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, the measure took effect at noon today. While Macau residents arriving from the two countries can stay in self-quarantine at their home, non-locals will have to stay at a designated hotel for two weeks at their own expense. Today's

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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Hotel guests drop 11 pct to 1.09 million in January

A total of 1.09 million guests checked into Macau's 122 hotels and guesthouses last month, a year-on-year decrease of 11.4 percent, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced.According to a DSEC statement yesterday, mainland Chinese accounted for 72.6 percent of all guests. While the number of guests from the mainland dropped 11.3 percent to 792,000, the number of guests from Hong Kong rose 11.0 percent to 107,000. The number of Taiwan guests fell 20.9 percent to 31,000.Some 42,000

February 29, 2020 | BY admin

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