Christchurch Casino’s submission mentioned it wanted to create five defined areas, each with its own cashiering facility. This required the approval of two temporary cash facilities so each of the five defined areas could be self-sufficient. Thanks to this change the movement of people would be minimised and the spread of germs too.
The casino added that along with servicing the clients, its goal was to “eliminate, or minimise, the movement of guests between zones at the casino, and thereby limit the potential spread of the Covid-19 virus”.
SkyCity Hamilton requested approval to create two separated (by temporary hoardings) zones in its gambling area, each with its own entry and exits points. One area would contain only pokie machines and the other would be dedicated to tables and machines.
The New Zealand Gambling Commission temporarily approved both casinos’ requests noting the additional cashiering facilities do not raise any issues. However, the approved changes are valid only under alert level two, the Commission added.
Approval of these requests represents important news for the casinos, since Prime Minister and Director General of Health, Dr Ashely Bloomfield, announced that New Zealand is to shift to alert level two on 7 September at 11:59 pm. Under alert level two, social gatherings of more than 50 people (indoor) and 100 people (outdoor) are no longer permitted.
