Brazilian Deputy Wilson Santiago has officially introduced bill 2766/20 to establish a sanitary protocol for all active businesses, including lotteries, with the goal of avoiding large crowds at betting facilities.
The project stated that lottery agencies throughout the country will have to comply with access rules, as Brazil keeps climbing ranking spots to become one of the most affected by the pandemic. The bill authorizes agencies to welcome 10 people at a time.
Santiago’s project requires states and municipalities to monitor compliance and sets a $360 fine for those who violate the rules. That money would then be directed to the fund set to fight the virus.
“Government aid payments during the state of emergency has created chaos for social isolation policies, mainly because thousands of Brazilians are waiting in long lines and crowds,” said Santiago, as reported by Games Magazine Brasil. “By not complying with the minimum social distance, Brazilians risk their lives to receive the subsidy.”
Since the beginning of the crisis, lotteries have suffered from back and forth processes until the Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region of Rio de Janeiro determined that they should be added again to the list of essential businesses.
This last decision had suspended the provisional decree of the 1st Federal Court of Duque de Caxias, which had justified that lotteries promoted large crowds. Following this resolution, the Advocacy General of the Union (AGU) appealed the decision on behalf of the Brazilian government, which aimed at resuming operations.
According to AGU attorney general André Mendonça, lotteries are essential for low-income people as they use it to get money for their basic needs. The final resolution mentions that the shut down of activities puts public health and economy at risk, since the absence of lottery draws could lead to an increase in the number of people at local banks.
The court established that keeping lotteries open preserves “the public interest.”