Almost two months after lottery and betting agencies closed in the City of Buenos Aires, the authorities allowed them to reopen their doors on Thursday. Slots rooms at hippodromes and casinos were not given permission to operate.
The quarantine relaxation aims to slowly reactivate some sectors of business, as long as they follow the hygiene measures established by the authorities. This week, the city approved 30 sectors to reopen their businesses.While the green light allows 1,264 agencies in the city to start operations, the local Lottery said that this step is voluntary. The operation hours will be from Monday to Friday from 11 am to 9 pm, while the draws will take place three times a day, every day.
The agencies will be open for people with IDs ending in 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while those with IDs ending in 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0 will be able to go on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The entrance will be restricted to follow the minimum distance criteria, and agents must set indications on the floor of the facilities.
The casino sector and the hippodrome in Palermo will remain closed as they gather a larger group of people. A government source explained that they still don’t know when they will be able to reopen, saying: “They are closed spaces, where many people touch slots. We don’t have an estimated date.”
The Gambling Workers Union (Aleara) revealed that it will send a protocol to the authorities to work towards the reopening of the rooms.
Ariel Fassione, union Secretary, said: “Our activity is ready to start working again with the necessary preventive measures, and for this reason we are going to present this protocol, which will contain a number of controls, limitations in terms of the number of gamblers, hygiene of the premises and the personnel and even changes in how we gamble.”