MACAU (UCAN): Caritas de Macau has been providing shelter to hundreds of non-resident migrant workers who have become homeless since authorities announced new restrictions and ordered a third mass testing of residents after three new Covid-19 coronavirus cases were registered in early October, Jornal-O-Clarim, the Portuguese-language Catholic weekly of Macau, reported.
Among those affected were Macau residents living and working in cities across the border with China, such as Zhuhai and Zhongshan. Authorities in Zhuhai had also ordered a 14-day quarantine for anyone who had been in Macau, leaving hundreds of non-resident workers in limbo.
Since October 2, the Caritas Temporary Reception Centre has offered overnight stays.
“We tried to be Good Samaritans,” Paul Pun, secretary of Caritas de Macau, explained to O Clarim.
Macau also had to cancel the reopening of its border during Golden Week holidays that ran from October 1 to 7, causing frustration in the business community of Asia’s gambling hub, media reports said.
Tens of thousands of tourists visit Macau every day during the Golden Week holidays, with some 980,000 tourists recorded in October 2019, according to a report by Inside Asian Gaming.
Thanks to strict measures, Macau has recorded just 77 Covid-19 cases and no deaths, according to government data.
