Puerto Rico casinos operating 25% above pre-pandemic capacity in their first weekend of reopening

The gambling industry is seeing great results just after the first day of reopening under the new Executive Order

Casinos in the region of Puerto Rico, which were held accountable for an increase in cases after a brief reopening on the 16^th of July, have now reopened this September, with updated and better suited measures. The casino operators before reopening reiterated that the need to restart the operations didn’t originate only from the need of income of the casinos, but from the urgent need of employment, after the pandemic took a toll on the livelihood of many individuals.

Shortly after noon of the first day of reopening, the count of people in the installations of Sheraton Hotel’s casino reached 325, almost all of them senior citizens, complying with the stated maximum occupancy limit of 400, deduced from the requirements of a maximum amount of 500 due to only being able to enter the same amount of customers as chairs and machines.

Ismael Vega, general manager of the casino of the Sheraton Hotel (seen on the left), mentioned ‘Usually on Saturdays here it is busy, but I dare say we are doing 25% more than we do on a Saturday up to this hour, so it has been busier than usual,’.

The protocols implemented include the use and availability of hand sanitizer, disinfectant towels, turning off machines to reduce space in between them, taking the temperature of customers and frequent cleaning of the installations. In games such as roulettes and cards, acrylics are place between customers, with a max number of 3 customers per table in this type of games.

Vega further explained ‘Every time we clean and disinfect an area, we put a sticker on it that says that area has been disinfected, so that the client feels at ease. The client can still raise their hand and we clean again. Full face masks, the employee is trained and empowered to ask the client to fix the mask if they are not wearing it properly. We have a 24/7 gaming inspector, we have our cameras, and all of this ensures that our protocols are followed,’

About SiGMA Europe – Malta

SiGMA Group has announced the postponement of its?Europe summit, which was planned to be held in Malta on 17-19 November 2020. The show will now open its doors early next year in February, running from the 16-18th, making it the first event to headline the 2021 gaming calendar.