The rules have been re-written during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Right now, all of NSW, VIC & ACT are in lockdown with a knock on effect for other states that rely on tourism as a major component of their economies. Slowly but surely vaccination numbers are increasing, and commonwealth, state and territory leaders are turning to the vaccines as the key tool to opening up again. The Doherty Report has indicated that freedoms can return at 70% double-dose vaccination, and at 80% double doses Australia can open up and learn to live with Covid without fear of constant lockdowns and a return to some sort of normality.
Timelines to achieve those targets vary by state and territory – projections in NSW have 70% double doses being achieved sometime in October 2021 and 80% in November 2021. There is now hope that Lockdowns will be a thing of the past as we head into Christmas and that should really give venue owners and managers some confidence that things will start to get better soon.
It’s important then that venues take a look at their business and identify how to future-proof their operations to ride through potential complications that may come with a mutating virus lurking around. No doubt QR check-ins, hand sanitisers, physical distancing and mask wearing will continue to be key weapons in the fight against the Coronavirus well into the future. But what else can be done to safeguard your business to weather these storms?
Preparing a Covid-19 Safety Plan is a good place to start. You can identify and implement all of the regulated requirements in the operations of the room to ensure you are able to trade.
The real question is how do you optimise gaming rooms under these “new normal” settings? And better yet, how do we get the gaming room performing like never before? The gaming operation is a key investment, and we need to extract the maximum return. Quick solutions implemented at the beginning of the pandemic have left rooms in disarray as machines have been spaced apart or dropped from the floor altogether.
The answer is to incorporate Covid-safe settings into the design of your gaming room or floor to ensure you can adapt to various situations and respond to changing conditions without disruption to your operations.