The Peruvian Government has announced this week the introduction of a new mandatory lockdown which will force casinos and gambling shops to close for at least two weeks. The capital Lima and seven other jurisdictions will cease trading at their casinos from January 31 to February 14, although the Government is not ruling out a possible extension.
The mandatory social distancing measure was announced yesterday by President Francisco Sagasti, who decided to include several jurisdictions in the measure, such as Lima Metropolitana, Lima Provincias, Pasco, Callao, Áncash, Huánuco, Ica, Junín, Apurímac and Huancavelica. These states are considered to be at “extreme” risk, resulting in a robust lockdown in which people won’t be able to leave their homes, except to buy basic products.
In territories where there’s a “very high” and “high” risk alert, there will be a curfew from 8 pm to 4 am and 9 pm to 4 am, respectively.
In addition to casinos, slot machines and gambling shops, entertainment venues, cinemas, theaters and museums will also be forced to shut down until mid-February. Companies that operate in “very high” and “extreme” risk will receive tax support from the Government.
Earlier this month, the Council of Ministers of Peru approved new restrictions that forced casinos and gambling shops to reduce their capacity. From January 15-31, gambling venues were supposed to be subject to a restriction that would’ve forced them to reduce their capacity to 40% in cities with “moderate” risk, 30% in “high” risk cities, and 20% in “very high” risk.
“[We need] to maintain the curfew, keep a limited capacity and prohibit entertainment activities (discos, bars, casinos, cinemas, etc). We also need to extend the supervision and control of the compliance of these measures and improve social communication,” the CMP had recommended in a statement.
