The government has included casinos to the list of stores being shut down for Hungary’s new restrictions coming into effect next week. Unlike cafés, restaurants, and pubs, they were not included in previous shutdowns.
During the most recent government press conference on Thursday, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Press Office Gergely Gulyás listed the various stores which the government is shutting down between March 8 and March 22, but did not mention anything about casinos.
In fact, the information the minister shared on the shutdown lacked details which would have been fundamental to know for such a decree. Who is impacted by the shutdown of services? How long will schools be closed for? Can restaurants continue to their deliveries?
Casinos have come under significant scrutiny after not being shutdown during previous lockdowns, despite the fact that they have been seen drawing large crowds.
It only turned out later that they were included in the government’s new decree.
Liberal weekly hvg.hu forwarded a list of questions to the government, which they believed needed to be clarified. the Government’s Information Centre responded to only one, saying “casinos cannot remain open, further details on rulings will be provided tomorrow.”
Featured photo illustration by Zsolt Czeglédi/MTI
