Crown Resorts remain shut as Melbourne re-enters stage 3 lockdown
Crown Resorts’ casino operations halted for another six weeks
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced Australia’s second-most populous city, Melbourne, will re-enter Stage 3 lockdown as coronavirus cases surge, forcing its Crown Resorts’ casino operations to remain halted for another six weeks.
On Tuesday, Premier Daniel Andrews stated that lockdown takes effect on 11:59 p.m. local time, today July 8, (9:59 a.m. ET), requiring 5.2 million citizens to be confined to their homes except for when undertaking essential trips.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced Australia’s second-most populous city, Melbourne, will re-enter lockdown forcing Crown Resorts’ casino operations to remain halted for another six weeks. Crown Resorts closed on March 23 despite the opening of restaurants and hotels at Melbourne on June 5.
Andews acted on the recommendation of the Public health officials who reported 191 new cases in the past 24 hours – the state’s highest one-day toll since the coronavirus outbreak.
Andrews expressed, ‘If we were to fail to take those steps, then it won’t be a couple of hundred cases per day it will be many more than that and it will quickly spiral well and truly out of control,”
Various Australian casinos had already reopened
Crown Perth – Crown Resorts’ Perth-based casino – operations suspended for more than three months due to the pandemic and reopened its doors to gamblers two weeks ago with health and safety protocols in place for customers and employees, which included five-player maximums for poker tables and high-frequency cleaning.
The Star Entertainment Group – Crown’s local rival – reopened its private gaming rooms and food venues in Sydney with green light given by the New South Wales (NSW) government.
SkyCity Adelaide reopened on June 29 with reduced hours and a members-only door policy.
The return to lockdown to impact state’s economy
Andrews acknowledged that the return to lockdown will have a huge negative impact on the state’s economy, but there was simply no alternative, he stated.
‘We have to be realistic about the circumstances that we confront,’ Andrews said, ‘We have to be clear with each other, that this is not over. And pretending that it is because we all wanted to be over, is not the answer’ he concluded.
