â–ş Listen Live
â–ş Listen Live

“Casinos are last on my list to re-open,” : Provincial Health Officer

Anyone wanting to try their luck again at the Treasure Cove Casino in Prince George will have to continue to wait.

Doctor Bonnie Henry (BC Government Livestream)

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said casinos are last on her list when it comes to re-opening.

She cites the majority of patrons are older with underlying conditions that make them more vulnerable to disease.

BC Lottery Corporation Spokesperson, Lara Gerrits said all gaming facilities in the province will undergo some changes once it’s safe to re-open.

“There will be some changes that will be made to gambling equipment to make sure that the player density within a casino is reduced there will be additional sanitation inside the facility and other measures that we will be working on with our casino service providers.”

Gerrits admits while the senior population does make up a healthy portion of their clientele they’re, not the only ones that are playing.

“We have young people and older people and we do agree with doctor Henry’s commitment to the health and well being of our players and of our communities and we’re going to continue with her directions and guidance.”

She adds the gaming sector remains an important one for the province, despite the shutdown.

“The gambling industry is an important economic contributor for sure to BC. There are 37-thousand indirect jobs through gambling created in BC and over 10-thousand direct jobs.”

During the closure, BCLC has noticed a spike in online gambling through its Playnow.com website.

“Some of our players are moving on to our Playnow.com website to play some of the casino games that are available, additionally as people are following the directions of Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and staying home a lot of our players are also purchasing their lottery tickets on our that website.”

BCLC ordered a shutdown of all casinos in mid-March following a directive by Henry and Attorney General David Eby.

Facilities will re-open once it is safe and appropriate to do so.

Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].

Continue Reading

cjci Now playing play

cirx Now playing play

- Advertisement -

Related Articles

<p>

- Advertisement -
</p>

Latest News

Hartley’s Sports Shorts; Tuesday, July 8th

MLB: Toronto Blue Jays  at  Chicago White Sox

Wildfire crews bracing for a change of conditions in the Peace Region

56% of all wildfires have been lightning caused while the remainder are human-caused. Since April 1st, 510 blazes have been ignited in BC.

Update: power restored in PG after mid-afternoon outage

BC Hydro crews are dealing with a mid-day power outage in Prince George. 643 customers are in affected north of Midland Road and East of Aberdeen Road.

Music at the Pavilion to kick off Thursday night

Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park is the place for free live music this summer starting on Thursday. The City is hosting Music at the Pavilion every second Thursday until August 21st.

Helicopter crash in the South Cariboo under investigation

Four people were taken to hospital for treatment following a helicopter crash over the weekend in the South Cariboo. 100 Mile House RCMP responded to the incident that happened yesterday (July 6) in Lone Butte.
- Advertisement -