COVID-19: Finland’s Veikkaus closes slots until mid-December
Following surges of positive COVID-19 cases, Finland’s gambling monopoly Veikkaus is closing its slot machines and Gaming Arcades across several regions.
The transition period began on Thursday 26th November and is set to conclude this Saturday (28th November). The period of closure will last until mid-December as the move is temporary.
The news was announced after the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health issued new safety guidelines in bid to control the pandemic stating:
the use of different measures, targeted regionally and locally, yet comprehensively and in such a way that the measures support each other, provide the regions with the best Prerequisites for fighting the spreading of the epidemic as a whole.”
Jari Heino, SVP, channels and sales at Veikkaus, commented on the decision saying:
No-one knows yet what the situation will look like in three weeks. We are sure that all efforts are made in society to suppress the second wave of this disease.
COVID-19 has undoubtedly hit the land-based industry hard, forcing mass shut down of casinos and slot machines across the globe. The monopoly operator notably reported loses of €10m ($11.9m) per week during the shutdown period between March and July. At the time of writing, this amounted to a 40.6% reduction in revenue.
As a flourishing alternative Veikkaus, like many other land-based casinos throughout the world, will continue to offer their online gaming service.
Currently, Veikkaus have reduced their maximum weekly loss limit across their services for online games from €2,000 to €500 during the pandemic in social responsibly bid.
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