HONG KONG—Macao’s government will extend a lockdown of casinos and other businesses until Friday, as authorities grapple to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the world’s biggest gambling hub, according a statement on its website.
The lockdown in the Chinese special administrative region had been due to end on Monday.
Macao imposed the shutdown last Monday, shuttering the city’s economic engine—its casinos—and forbidding residents from leaving their apartments, except for essential activities such as grocery shopping.
Macao has recorded around 1,700 coronavirus infections since mid-June. More than 20,000 people are in mandatory quarantine as the government adheres to China’s zero-COVID policy, which aims to stamp out all outbreaks, running counter to a global trend of trying to coexist with the virus….