Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) is continuing the campaign to allow the reopening of casinos from July. The Industry Body has urged the UK Government to consider the decision and pointed out that the operators have taken enough measures to protect the customers from the COVID19 pandemic.
The betting shops of the UK were allowed to reopen from June 15 after strict lockdown measures were withdrawn. The government later announced that hospitality venues including hotels, pubs, and restaurants would reopen from July 4.
However, casinos are still not ordered to be opened so far.
BGC has termed the decision as nonsensical and inconsistent. The body has even highlighted the steps taken by the operators and visited Rialto Casino of Rank in London to demonstrate that. Michael Dugher has expressed disappointment in the body over the decision to not open casinos. He has also urged the ministers to look at the efforts made by the operators for COVID19 protection measurement. Dugher said that he was highly impressed with the measures taken at the Rialto Casino. He pointed out that all-important aspects such as sanitization, social distancing, minimum people at a place, and others are followed effectively. He said that all the operators across the country are making similar efforts as well.
Speaking about the development, Dougher said that they also want to kick start the economy just like the other part of the leisure industry. He stressed that the contribution of the casinos in the financial condition of the country cannot be under-estimated especially at the time of such economic uncertainty. He further said that the body hopes that the government would look into the issue and ensure no more job losses.
BGC said that there are 120 casinos of the UK and all of them have introduced a range of strict safety measures, including sanitizing area, social distances, table areas sanitizing, and even chips sanitizing. He said that customers would be limited in playing at a single table. Customers will also be asked to sanitize their hands before and after while table games. Circulating during tables games are also prohibited.
Source: https://www.igamingbusiness.com/news/bgc-demands-government-accelerate-casino-reopening-plans