{"id":139746,"date":"2020-06-25T06:07:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T13:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=139746"},"modified":"2020-06-25T14:35:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T21:35:20","slug":"english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub\/","title":{"rendered":"English Casino Industry Indignant Over UK Government Lockdown Snub"},"content":{"rendered":"

England\u2019s casino sector remains in a state of reluctant lockdown this week after it was left out of Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s plans to restart the economy.<\/p>\n

\"Rendezvous
The Rendezvous Casino at Southend\u2019s Kursaal building is just one casino that has shuttered permanently due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Image: Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trade association the Betting and Gaming Council<\/a> (BGC) criticized the government\u2019s latest easing of restrictions in the country as \u201cinconsistent and frankly nonsensical\u201d for the omission of casinos.<\/p>\n

The rebuff comes in the same week that Genting, one of the UK\u2019s biggest casino operators, said three of its casinos in England \u2014 Plymouth, Torquay, and possibly Margate \u2014 would close permanently due to the financial pressures of lockdown.<\/p>\n

Caesars Entertainment UK announced last week that its Rendezvous Casino Southend would also fall victim to the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Independence Day? \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The UK has been slowly relaxing rules<\/a> on social distancing since June 1. Last week, non-essential businesses were permitted to reopen in England, which included thousands of retail betting outlets.<\/p>\n

The governments of Scotland and Wales are taking a more cautious approach, however, as the virus has been less pervasive there and may still be below its peak. Some 90 percent of all deaths ascribed to Covid-19 in the UK have occurred in England.<\/p>\n

July 4 \u2014 a date with no special significance for Brits \u2014 had, for several weeks, been touted as the moment the government would restart the hospitality industry – at least, in England.<\/p>\n

\n

Sure enough, on Tuesday, Johnson confirmed July 4 would see the most sweeping easing of lockdown measures yet, with pubs, restaurants, cafes, hotels, art galleries, museums, and places of worship among the venues cleared for opening \u2013 provided they are “COVID-secure.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018We\u2019ve Done All We Can\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said in a statement that casino operators had been hoping \u2013 and preparing \u2013 to open, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cCasino operators have worked ’round the clock to ensure their premises and the way they operate adhere to the government\u2019s strict anti-COVID guidelines,<\/strong>\u201d Dugher said. \u201cIt is inconsistent and frankly nonsensical that casinos are being forced to remain closed when other parts of the hospitality and leisure industry are opening up again.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Dugher, measures adopted by casinos include ensuring customers use hand sanitizers before entering the premises, as well as when joining and leaving a gaming table. Floor layouts have also been redesigned to ensure social distancing.<\/p>\n

Dugher said his organization wanted to work urgently with government officials to ensure that casinos are reopened safely and as quickly as possible this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

England\u2019s casino sector remains in a state of reluctant lockdown this week after it was left out of Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s plans to restart the economy. Trade association the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) criticized the government\u2019s latest easing of restrictions in the country as \u201cinconsistent and frankly nonsensical\u201d for the omission of casinos. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":139748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEnglish Casino Industry Indignant Over UK Government Lockdown Snub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"English casinos will not be opening at the same time as the rest of the hospitality industry, which the Betting and Gaming Council has called nonsensical.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"English Casino Industry Indignant Over UK Government Lockdown Snub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"English casinos will not be opening at the same time as the rest of the hospitality industry, which the Betting and Gaming Council has called nonsensical.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-25T13:07:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-25T21:35:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/southend.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"668\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub\/\",\"name\":\"English Casino Industry Indignant Over UK Government Lockdown Snub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/southend.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-25T13:07:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-25T21:35:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"English casinos will not be opening at the same time as the rest of the hospitality industry, which the Betting and Gaming Council has called nonsensical.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/english-casino-industry-indignant-over-uk-government-lockdown-snub\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/southend.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/southend.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":668,\"caption\":\"The Rendezvous Casino at Southend\u2019s Kursaal building is just one casino that has shuttered permanently due to the coronavirus pandemic. 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