Casinos Poland reopens venues after latest Covid-19 closure
Century Casinos’ Casinos Poland chain has reopened its eight casinos.
Poland.- Casinos Poland has reopened its eight casinos following the latest relaxation of Covid-19 countermeasures.
The venues have been through several phases of closure. They were most recently ordered to close on March 19 after having reopened in February following a previous two-month lockdown.
Casinos must continue to follow social distancing and enhanced health and safety protocols. There is no guarantee that the government will not order casinos to close again.
Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, co-CEOs of Century Casinos, said in a statement: “We look forward to welcoming our guests and team members back to our Polish casinos. This is a very important step to lead our company back to normal operations in Poland.”
The US-based Century Casinos holds a 66.6 per cent ownership interest in Casinos Poland. The company’s US casinos are now open but its Canadian casinos remain closed.
See also: Poland’s Totalizator Sportowy launches startup fund
Casino reopenings in Europe
Elsewhere in Europe, the Danish government allowed casinos and gaming arcades to reopen from Friday May 21. Denmark’s casinos had been closed since December.
See also: Danish gambling market sees first year of decline since regulation
There are currently six casinos in Denmark, located in Aalborg, Aarhus, Copenhagen (Casino Copenhagen and Casino Helsingor), Odense and Vejle.
There had been hopes that casinos would be able to reopen on April 5, but that was called off as the government wanted to wait for Covid-19 cases to fall further.
Land-based casinos along with bingo halls and adult gaming centres in England, Scotland and Wales reopened on Monday (May 17) after a four-month Covid-19 lockdown. Casinos have also reopened in Cyprus, Spain and Czech Republic.
In the latter, Kings Casino Resort advised that a negative Covid-19 test or proof of vaccine or previous infection was needed. The casino is offering tests free of charge.
In France, casinos were allowed to reopen at 35 per cent capacity and offering slot machines only from May 19. Table games are expected to resume on June 9, when the capacity limit will be lifted to 50 per cent.
Provided the health situation does not worsen, French casinos will be able to return to full operations from June 30.
The European Casino Association (ECA) has called for support for the land-based casino sector after figures show that its 900 member casinos in Europe have seen staff numbers fall from more than 70,000 in early 2020 to around 50,000.
