Bogota has proposed a plan to re-open the casinos of its city-515 in number amid COVID-19 due to losses in revenue. Bogota has become third city after Cartago and Medelin in Columbia to have come up with such proposal.
However, the government has not worked on a framework to allow the opening of casinos at nationwide level. It is expected that second wave of novel coronavirus might hit the country and therefore the government is willing to be cautious.
The closing of casinos in Bogota has caused the city a real loss of $17.17 million which also includes expenditure incurred in health care system. Bogota is not the only city that has been facing financial losses on account of COVID lockdown, there are other cities in Columbia and in rest of the world who are greatly dependent upon revenues from gambling sector.
Mayor of Bogota Claudia López stated that, “venues may begin reopening but while still complying with safety and health measures. The announcement, however excludes bars, night clubs, dance venues, concert halls, as well as other indoors spaces designed to host large groups and gatherings, which will remain closed until further notice”, as reported by Gambling News (September 22, 2020).
Colombia’s Ministry of Health has drafted guidelines to be followed during COVID generally and specifically to ensure safety of consumers and staff. The guidelines that were drafted in August mandate casinos to use physical separators to make sure that players cannot infect each other while playing games.
Additionally, the food and alcohol in casinos is strictly prohibited to limit the contamination and nuanced disinfection protocols have been put in place to minimize the virus transmission.