Macau’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.

Macau 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.

Macau 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.