Casinos in London are ceasing operation once again, as the city is forced into lockdown because of the increase in the number of coronavirus cases, which Mayor Siddique Khan has described as quite concerning.
The closure comes after the casino venues had been only recently allowed to resume operation after a four-week lockdown that ended on December 2nd. Previously, London casinos were forced to work under an 11 PM curfew after the initial lockdown left them closed until August.
And while the country’s gambling sector has been trying to deal with what it called an injustice related to the lockdown restrictions, it turned out that the abovementioned “circuit breaker” had almost no effect on the spreading of the Covid-19 infection. The number of coronavirus cases is increasing in London and, what is even worse, health authorities had identified a new genetic variant of the infection in the southeast.
At the beginning of the week, Matt Hancock, the UK Health Secretary, tried to calm the spirits down by explaining that the new mutation of the virus is not believed to be more dangerous than the previous ones and it is highly unlikely for the new generic variant to be resistant to vaccines. However, it appeared to be spreading more quickly than the original, which is exactly why the authorities decided to impose stricter measures on the casino venues in the city.
UK Gambling Sector Seriosly Affected by Coronavirus Restrictions in 2020
As announced by Mr Hancock at the time, as of December 16th, London would be upgraded to Tier 3, which is the highest level of coronavirus restrictions. The measure would make sure indoor mixing between people, who are not from the same household, is avoided. Furthermore, all restaurants, pubs and entertainment venues, including bingo halls and casinos, will be shut.
The new coronavirus restrictions will also mean that the soccer grounds in London will be required to once again close their terraces to fans. Since the December 2nd reopening, only a limited number of people had been permitted to enter the facilities and watch live games.
Keeping all of this in mind, the decision of local authorities to allow local betting shops to remain operational in case they are compliant with certain restrictions, such as the provision of social distancing by limiting the number of customers or removal of chairs, has been found surprising.
As a whole, the UK gambling industry, and casinos, in particular, has suffered a lot over the past nine months. The lengthy closures and curfews had left the land-based gaming sector with significantly smaller revenue, with the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) reporting in October a 70% revenue decline in comparison to the same period a year earlier.
The first lockdown saw some of the largest land-based casino and sports betting operators warn of upcoming lay-offs as businesses were unable to pay their employees’ wages.
- Author
Olivia Cole
