As of this evening Macau time (Sunday evening), the official website of the Macau Legislative Assembly (AL) is still showing that the new Macau gaming law will be voted on at 3pm this coming Tuesday (21 June), despite the weekend outbreak of COVID-19 in the SAR and resultant lockdowns.
The new Gaming Law was discussed in the Second Standing Committee last week, and the committee chairman, Chan Chak Mo, said that “the earliest vote will be on Tuesday (21 June).”
Sunday’s epidemic outbreak has seen 21 people infected with COVID-19, and the government has announced that various government departments will be closed on June 20 and June 21.
During a press conference on the outbreak late on Sunday afternoon, IAG directly asked Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong whether the outbreak will make it impossible to pass the gaming law before June 26, as the government has long planned.
In response, Lei said, “the government will comply with the epidemic prevention measures, but the schedule of the Legislative Council meeting for the Gaming Law has not changed.”
This means that the Legislative Assembly will still discuss and vote on the gaming law on Tuesday, despite the seriousness of the epidemic in Macau.
IAG has received a notice from the Legislative Assembly that media attending the Legislative Assembly meeting on Tuesday 21 June must register their attendance and complete an NAT test by noon on Monday in order for the result to be known before the Tuesday session.