Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou released new containment measures as a result of the growth in COVID-19 cases. Despite this, the Uruguayan government opted to leave the casinos in operation, admitting that these establishments are not contributing to the worsening of the country’s health situation.
From the decision of the president, the National Association of Employees of the State Casinos (Anfuce) stressed that all work according to “restricted health protocol, signed by the Ministry of Health and the Directorate of Planning and Budget”.
Uruguayan casinos can keep their doors open in compliance with a series of strict regulations.
The list includes the mandatory use of masks for everyone present, the distance between machines and people, the insertion of equipment for hygiene and the measurement of body temperature at the entrance of establishments, among other standards.
Association claims that new casino closures will lead to massive layoffs
Anfuce considered that a new period of interruption in the activities of the casinos would result in “sending more than 1,000 employees to their homes”, in addition to the outsourced professionals.
The association’s statement continued: “Some politicians mentioned the possibility of reducing hours, which does not seem relevant to us. In this way, we would cause problems in less time, concentrate more people, approaching the limit of maximum capacity ”.
Even with the authorization to receive the public, the Parque Hotel casino stopped its operations indefinitely.
Officially, the decision was justified: “Upon request we clarify that the Parque Hotel Municipal Management Casino has been closed since December 2, 2020 and will remain closed by decision of the Montevideo City Council”.
Effects of COVID-19 in Uruguay
The new measures are expected to remain in force in Uruguay until at least April 12. Since March last year, the country has registered 86,000 cases with about 820 victims.
Today, Uruguay has almost 15,000 active cases. The vaccination campaign started only on March 1 in the country, but it has advanced rapidly and has already reached 10% of the population.
