Casinos are built for escapism, but there is no escaping COVID-19, so that means masks, temperature checks, fewer games to play and constant reminders to physically distance as more gaming operations open across the country.
Those who enjoy casinos want to get back to the machines and tables after three or four months of dark gaming floors, says Paul Burns, CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association. But they understand the experience is going to be different, just like every other facet of public life.
But casino operators are lobbying the provincial government to allow them to open their doors with approved health and safety plans. There were 114 casinos in Canada when pandemic measures closed every one of them in a 72-hour period in March. According to the Canadian Gaming Association, the gaming industry accounts for more than 182,000 jobs in this country, along with revenues to governments and charities of $9.2 billion and spending on goods and services of about $14.6 billion.
“Maybe the biggest thing that impressed me was that they had machines turned off so you are forced to social distance while playing,” he told CTVNews.ca by email. “Unlike other casinos where they just ask you to social distance and leave all the machines running, you can clearly see the focus is on patron protection and not on making money.”Many casinos have detailed their reopening plans or operating protocols on their websites.
The casino will not operate valet service or coat check and even urinals are closed due to physical distancing. Under provincial guidelines, Ontario’s casinos cannot operate table games or buffets, must require face masks for customers, and must submit a reopening plan to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, which regulates casinos.
Many of Ontario’s casino operators have sites in other jurisdictions where they have been allowed to open in compliance with public health guidelines. That direct experience, along with studying what is being done around the world, will only help the reopening process in Canada’s most populous province, says Burns.
Employees are wearing masks at all Century casinos and they are required for visitors at three sites, Smith told CTVNews.ca from Edmonton. He says masks are “highly encouraged” at the other two sites and required when two metres of distance isn’t possible. Live entertainment isn’t happening and Century Casinos are shifting their large promotional draws online beginning in August, says Smith. But restaurants are open and so is a comedy club at Century Casino Edmonton, with an occupancy limit of 100, and horse-racing tracks with up to 200 spectators.
River Cree, which is owned and operated by the Cree Nation just outside Edmonton, used its time during shutdown to install plastic barriers between each of its 1,350 slot machines, allowing each one to stay in operation. The casino is exploring cashless and other no-touch technology and has already replaced the tradition of “hand pays” for slots jackpots, where winners had bills counted into their hands at the machine, with a credit slip paid out at the cash cage.
“The second wave will be triggered by a super-spreading event and that’s going to be some sort of indoor mass gathering, whether that’s a church, a bar, a casino or a concert.” It’s possible to minimize the threat, but it does take effort, time and resources, said Deonandan. The key is to keep the number of people inside a casino small and spread out. And he says masks should be mandatory for everyone at all times.Employees should be doubly protected – with masks to handle outward transmission and visors to protect against inward transmission.
Surveillance and enforcement, something casinos are already adept at, are going to be critical to maintain physical distancing, says the professor. It will change the casino experience for many and maybe improve it for some. But New Jersey took it a step further, deciding to ban alcohol , eating and smoking in its nine casinos in Atlantic City, while limiting capacity to 25 per cent.
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