Fabian Debesa
11/24/2020 10:26 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 11/24/2020 10:26 PM
Almost nine months after the closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, gambling will return in bingo halls and casinos in the province of Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires Cabinet Chief
Carlos Bianco
announced to businessmen in the sector that the doors of the gaming halls will reopen on December 14 when the summer season is already underway.
In the City, the casinos had reopened almost without notice on November 15.
The measure had generated controversy because while the schools are still closed, the activity of the Floating Casino of Puerto Madero and the slot halls of the Palermo Hippodrome had been enabled.
Card game and slot machines were one of the last activities that were restricted in the provincial territory since that March 20, when a decree of necessity and urgency by Alberto Fernández paralyzed the country.
In the second semester the official agencies and the turf had been enabled in the racetracks of Buenos Aires.
Public and private schools, where more than 5.2 million children and adolescents attend
formal education,
remain the
last bastion of closure
.
The teachers' unions and the authorities of the Provincial General Directorate of Schools form a trench to prevent the return of these students to face-to-face classes.
Mar del Plata is preparing for a different summer season.
Photo: Christian Heit
Bianco had a meeting on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Provincial Lottery Institute.
There he confirmed to the directors and private administrators of the betting rooms that as of Monday, December 14, the opening of the rooms of the
11 casinos and the 44 bingo halls that operate in the Buenos Aires territory will
be enabled
.
As confirmed to
Clarín
in that body, the operation will include only the slot machine sector and will be developed with "strict health protocols" that, among other restrictions, will only allow the entry of people who do not have risk factors in the framework of the pandemic of coronavirus.
Those over 60 years old will not be able to bet or beat in front of the lottery cards
.
And those who have diseases considered risky must sign an affidavit stating any consequence of their entry into the leisure sector.
Summer will have its restrictions and preventions in Buenos Aires.
The provincial authorities consider that gambling should return as an attraction especially in the casino rooms installed in the main cities chosen for the season.
Mar del Plata, Mar de Ajo, Sierra de la Ventana, Tandil and Tigre -among others- may summon bettors.
Although the "cloths" will continue to be closed.
There will be no roulette or black Jack
, they told
Clarín
, for health security reasons.
In addition, there are almost 20 thousand workers who depend on this activity.
In these months of the pandemic they were charging a minimum and were unable to obtain the extra benefits that employees receive while there is activity and when the slot machines are plugged in.
La Plata (Correspondent)
