Govt: Non-essential civil servants remain at home next week

Civil servants who work in non-essential services will be exempted from work continuously during next week, the local government announced today (Friday) at its daily press conference.

Last week, the local government started implementing measures for these particular civil servants, at a time when Macau has recorded seven infection cases of 2019 n-CoV. Additional confirmed cases have been reported in mainland China and in Zhuhai.

This exemption period lasts from February 3 to 7. Heads of different government departments will be responsible for making a decision on the number of civil servants to be included in the exemption.

During this work exemption period, public departments will only provide emergency and basic services.

Civil servants who will not work are suggested to stay indoors and reduce their travels outside of their homes.

During today’s press conference, Health Bureau (SSM) head Lei Chin Ion said that the local government does not rule out the possibility of community transmission of 2019 n-CoV in Macau in the upcoming period. Lei urged the city to take ever more strict measures to prevent a local outbreak.

In Zhuhai and Hong Kong, local cases have been confirmed where patients did not travel to Hubei. Due to these cases, the local government estimates that it is possible that there is already a local infection which has not been discovered yet.

Lei wants local residents to be mentally prepared for it and to strictly follow the local government’s measures to prevent an outbreak in the city.

Hong Kong records 12 cases of coronavirus and in the province of Guangdong 436 cases were confirmed without any fatality.

As of Friday afternoon, China has registered 9692 cases, 1527 of which were in serious conditions, and 213 deaths.

This week, local casinos have been accused of forcing workers to take non-paid leaves. Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong urged companies to not fire their workers and added that Macau will overcome this hard time.

Lei did not reject the possibility of ordering the closing of Macau casinos. Instead, he said that at the moment, the government are taking all preventive measures to guarantee the security of this current situation. Further measures will only be taken based on the assessment of the health bureau.

According to statistics released by the Public Security Police Force (PSP), during this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, Macau recorded an over 80% drop in visitor arrivals. The economy secretary said that gaming gross revenue was 21.37 billion patacas from January 1 until January 30, which is a 10% to 11% decrease year on year.

While the economy is suffering from the epidemic, Macau’s residents are still guaranteed their annual cash handout this year. These residents will get their money even earlier than usual and the total amount will be 7.1 billion patacas.

The local government announced that this year’s cash handout will be distributed in April, as opposed to July.