Casino re-opening now delayed by at least 2 weeks
After the welcome news that casinos in England could re-open from 1st August, the brakes have now been firmly applied following the Prime Ministers announcement today when he announced that casinos could no longer re-open tomorrow as planned.
Delayed by ‘at least two weeks’
In a press conference this afternoon, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced that further restrictions would come into place and the easing of lockdown measures would be put on hold. This comes as the numbers of Covid cases are increasing, despite deaths decreasing.
During the announcement, the Prime Minister said that the planned re-opening of casinos would be pushed back by at least two weeks; a bitter blow for all the casinos that have been preparing to re-open this weekend.
He also said that face coverings will be mandatory in all public places including galleries, museums, cinemas and places of worship, from 8th August.
No evidence casinos are ‘high risk’
Bingo Halls in England were allowed to re-open from 4th July and the Betting and Gambling Council urged the Government to allow casinos to also reopen as soon as possible.
Casinos in England account for hundreds of millions of pounds in tax revenue and employ thousands of people, all currently on furlough. Since the closure of casinos on 23rd March, venues have been working around the clock to prepare for re-opening and ensure they are covid secure; supplying masks to customers, hand sanitisers at tables, Perspex screening, social distancing and thorough cleaning programmes.
The BGC’s Chief Executive Michael Dugher spoke of his concerns via Twitter, saying, “There is no evidence that casinos are ‘higher risk’ venues + what happened to the Govt’s local lockdown strategy? Why should a casino business remain closed in Bristol in the south west where Covid is low, because there’s a spike in Greater Manchester? Big threat to jobs.”
