AKIPRESS.COM - Officials in the Chinese city of Macau on Tuesday asked its 41 casinos to close for half a month as they rush to stop the coronavirus outbreak afflicting China and the region, the US media report.

The move will shut down the world’s gambling capital, which could hit big American casino operators like Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands as well as the local companies that sustain the territory’s economy.

The authorities said 10 people in Macau had been sickened by the pneumonialike illness, among them a hotel employee at Galaxy Casino, one of the city’s busiest gambling establishments. Though no deaths have been reported there, the coronavirus is known to have killed at least 490 people in mainland China, one in the Philippines and one in Hong Kong, Macau’s neighbor.

“Of course this was a difficult decision, but we must do it for the health of Macau’s residents,” said Ho Iat Seng, the chief executive of the semiautonomous Chinese territory, in a televised news conference.