The outbreak of Wuhan pneumonia left Macau deserted during the peak tourist season, while locals restricted the streets.

The Macau Special Administrative Region on Monday said it would restrict travelers from traveling to mainland China to deal with the spread of Wuhan pneumonia.

The previous Macau government also temporarily stopped receiving tours around the territory. Since January 24, the number of visitors to Macau has decreased by 69%, according to updated data.

The Macau government introduced the drastic measures in the context of the number of deaths due to the new strain of corona virus (nCoV) in China has increased to 132 as of today, with 1,500 new infections. Outbreak in Wuhan City, Hubei Province then spread to 16 countries and territories around the world, including 7 cases in Macau.

The outbreak occurred during the Lunar New Year holiday, the peak tourist period of Macau, the city had many casinos and entertainment centers. This has led analysts to forecast that revenue from Macau's casino business will drop by at least 30%.

Macau Special Administrative Region is the only place in mainland China to legalize gambling and more than 90% of visitors to Macau are from mainland China.

However, the routes connecting Macau with the mainland have now been tightened, with dozens of flights and trains canceled. The Macau government also extended the Tet holiday this year to banks and businesses to close, to prevent the risk of widespread pneumonia.

On January 29, the St Paul's Church Monument, one of Macau's tourist attractions, was devoid of visitors, while the bustling shopping and nightlife streets were also deserted by residents. The local authorities decided not to go to the street because they were afraid of the disease.

The casinos in Macau are still active, but the restaurants are closed and all shows are canceled. Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said casinos could be shut down if nCoV continues to spread.

The nCoV virus originated in Wuhan, the 11 million city of Hubei province in China. The Macau government had previously instructed all visitors from Hubei to leave the special zone, but there are still about 270 tourists from Hubei still in the city, according to special zone officials.