On January 6, the Macau Casino Regulator announced that they will be working with the local Health Bureau to issue new overhead temperature screening equipment on all casino properties. This comes amid a growing concern after the health alert level was recently raised to “serious’ after it was reported that several had been treated an unspecified form of viral pneumonia.
In a statement issued by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), they explained that the alert level had been raised on January 5 when several cases of “viral pneumonia of unknown origin” were reported which were linked to Wuhan City on the mainland of China.
This is a serious concern because Macau has become one of the major tourist destinations for people from mainland China, including those coming from Wuhan. In fact, this city, located in the Hubei province, has direct air services to Macau.
To this point, the six casinos located in Macau have been using handheld scanners to check the body heat of staff members and customers who enter any of the properties. Now each of these casinos will be equipped with overhead scanners that are able to monitor the temperature of any person who enters the facility and to do so automatically.
The regulator explained in the statement that using these devices would create “effective measures” that would mitigate that anyone might contract an infectious disease in a casino. This, along with other preventative measures already employed, would likely be effective enough to eliminate any concerns staff and patrons may have.
Officials in Macau were already concerned about the effects that pneumonia may have. There has been a growing outbreak of pneumonia across the mainland, which has become a serious concern to staff in particular.
Since the start of the year, there have already been five cases of pneumonia reported in the city. Those who were treated showed signs of high fevers and respiratory distress. All five were to have been reported to have visited Wuhan within a two week period prior to coming to Macau.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been 59 cases of serious illness that have been reported in the past month, however, the Chinese authorities have ruled out pneumonia. In a statement, authorities told WHO officials that the illness was not “Influenza, avian flu, adenovirus, SARS or MERS.”
Despite the assurances, officials in Macau are taking precautions to ensure that they are protecting all persons entering their facilities.
