GGRAsia – Manila tougher restrictions, casinos at limited capacity

Manila tougher restrictions, casinos at limited capacity

Jan 04, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Metro Manila in the Philippines is since Monday (January 3) under the more restrictive “alert level 3”, as a countermeasure against the further spread of Covid-19 in the region. Two casino resorts at Entertainment City have confirmed to GGRAsia that their respective gaming floors remain open, albeit under limited capacity.

A reply to GGRAsia on Tuesday via the website of Solaire Resort and Casino stated that the property’s casino was “open at a limited capacity and for fully-vaccinated guests only as of the moment.” The reply did not disclose the revised capacity of the gaming venue. Solaire is run by Philippines-based Bloomberry Resorts Corp.

The promoter of the Resorts World Manila casino resort told GGRAsia on Tuesday that the property’s gaming venue was “operational with reduced capacity,” despite the heighten restrictions in the region.

A message on the website of City of Dreams Manila, run by a unit of Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd, said that “persons who are 21 years old and above are allowed to enter” its casino premises. It stated that only three players were allowed per table at any time, and that slot machines were spaced one seat’s-width apart.

During a press briefing on December 31, Karlo Nograles, acting spokesperson for the Philippine leader, President Rodrigo Duterte, announced that Metro Manila (pictured) would be under the stricter alert level from January 3 to at least January 15, 2022. That was because of an increase in Covid-19 infections in the region, including cases of the Omicron variant.

Alert level 3 is the second-strictest of the four-level alert protocol introduced to monitor so-called “granular lockdowns” in specific areas. It determines restrictions on certain activities in specific areas of Metro Manila, including on casinos.

Under these measures, casinos, lottery and betting shops, and other gaming venues must stay closed, except if given the green light either by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, or the Office of the President, according to the Inter-Agency Task Force guidelines.

(Updated at 2.50pm, Jan 4)