Buenos Aires Province casinos and bingo halls allowed to reopen

After a shutdown of more than eight months as a consequence of mandatory national and provincial lockdowns, casinos and bingo halls in the Province of Buenos Aires will reopen their doors in three weeks. The Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Province, Carlos Bianco, confirmed the move at an Institute meeting yesterday, attended by Province Governor Axel Kicillof, business representatives, trade union members, and the President and Vice President of the regulator, Omar Galdurralde and María Laura García.

Casinos in Buenos Aires City —a separate jurisdiction— received the green light to reopen last week with limited capacity, with the Province of Buenos Aires now following.

The Provincial government said that starting December 14, two weeks after the beginning of the summer season in Argentina, the 11 casinos and 44 bingo halls within the provincial territory will resume operations under strict health and safety protocols. 

The IPLyC said the venues will only be able to operate slot machines and that the protocol will determine that people at a greater risk won’t be able to enter the casinos and bingo halls.

Roberto Páez, General Secretary of the Mar del Plata Casinos Maestranza Union, talked to the local press and said that the sector was waiting on guidelines for reopening.

"The truth is that we don’t clearly know how the activity will be developed or how the schedules and the employees will be affected, but we’re sure that we will know all the specifications eventually," said Páez.

It is worth noting that the Provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Misiones, Tucumán, Corrientes, Chaco, San Juan, Chubut, Santa Cruz, Entre Ríos, Río Negro and Mendoza have already reopen or are the process of reopening casinos and bingo halls.

The health and safety measures that will be in place include limited capacity, the mandatory use of face coverings, and hand sanitizers, among others.