Macau’s casinos have been responsible for more than a quarter of the territory’s smoking violations in the six months since tighter restrictions went into effect.
According to statistics releases by the Macau Health Bureau, authorities conducted almost 175,000 inspections between the start of the year through the end of June and charged 2,941 individuals with violations. Of those, 775, roughly 26 percent, were issued in casinos, followed by 499 cases in parks, gardens and rest areas and 330 cases at Macau International Airport.
Macau introduced a New Tobacco Control Act on January 1, extending the city’s non-smoking areas to include VIP gaming rooms, with smoking now only allowed in casinos inside specially ventilated smoking rooms.
The Health Bureau has since received applications for the approval of 616 smoking rooms in 34 casinos, of which 562 rooms in 31 casinos have been approved so far.
