UK casinos offer to close bars to avoid new 10pm curfew

Last night, Boris Johnson announced new restrictions on pubs, bars and restaurants in the UK to help slow the spread of COVID 19.

A rise in cases across the UK has caused the Government to reassess the measures currently in place, so from Thursday 24th of September, these businesses must close by 10pm.

Casinos have been included in these new tighter restrictions, which after spending most of the summer requesting to reopen, must be pretty frustrating for the staff who have been back at work for less than a month.

In light of the new curfew, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has offered to close bars in casinos across the UK in exchange for being allowed to open past 10pm.

The BGC claim that the closure of bars would reduce the number of people congregating in groups, benefiting the social distancing measures already in place.

From mid June until casinos reopened at the end of August, the chairman of the BGC, Michael Dugher, was asking the UK government to allow casinos to open, claiming that thousands of jobs were at risk.

Earlier this week, Dugher said “It is no exaggeration to say that a blanket 10pm curfew would be devastating for a sector which does more than half of its business after that time,”

He continues to say “[the casino industry] is still struggling to get back on its feet following the first lockdown and the collapse of tourism.”

Whether the government pays attention to the casino industries offer of a compromise is currently unknown, but considering the BGC’s previous efforts, it doesn’t seem likely.

You don’t need to go to a casino to enjoy your favourite table games though, as live casinos have the same feeling of sitting at a blackjack table from the comfort of your home.