On Mar. 26, 2020, 11:59pm various entertainment venues will be closed.

All bars and entertainment venues like night clubs, discos, cinemas, theatres, and karaoke outlets, where there is a high risk of transmission due to sustained close contact over a period of time, are to close.

Apart from entertainment venues, all centre-based tuition and enrichment classes will be suspended to reduce the intermingling of students from different schools.

Organised tours in public venues (such as sightseeing or guided walking tours) will also be suspended.

Casinos though are not expected to fully close.

Here's why.

Casinos are attractions, not subjected to compulsory suspension

According to Minister for National Development and co-chair of the Multi Ministry Taskforce Lawrence Wong, casinos are categorised under "attractions".

In response to whether casinos and music schools will close, Wong stated that music schools would most likely fall under the "tuition and enrichment" category so it would have to be suspended.

As for casinos, Wong stated that it will fall under the "attractions" category, which will not subject them to a compulsory suspension.

However, they will still have to adhere to the new and 'very strict' criteria implemented by the government.

Operators are to ensure that the venue does not have more than one person per 16 square metres of usable space.

According to Wong, this might be too tough for some to sustain their operations and they may wish to curtail some parts of it.

"They may well decide that it is very hard to sustain their operation with this criteria and they may wish to curtail some of their operations, I don’t know, but that’s up to them to decide. But they fall in that category of attractions."

Limit entry

Following the announcement, both casinos at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Resort World Sentosa (RWS) have updated that they will still be open, but to selected guests only.

According to RWS, only Genting Rewards members and annual levy holders are permitted entry to its casino.

In response to Mothership's queries, RWS also said that they have added enhanced measures on top of the existing precautionary measures such as its cleaning and disinfection efforts.

Here are the additional measures taken at RWS casino:

Using only alternate seats for table games and electronic gaming machines

Limiting the number of players per table by using stickers indicating where players may position themselves

Not accepting bets by standing patrons

Rotating dealers more frequently on the gaming floor to limit contact time with patrons

Dealers have to sanitise their hands at the start and end of each game

Stanchions and ropes to facilitate safe distancing and discourage crowding

Roaming carts delivering hand sanitisers and moisturisers

Regular piped announcements reminding patrons of safe distancing

Casino goers have to present their membership cards and declare their travel history prior to entry.

MBS also stated on its website that only those with valid annual levies and members of Sands Rewards Club (SRC) Gold and above are allowed to enter its casino on March 26, 11:59pm.

Contact details will be recorded upon entry to the MBS casino to facilitate contact tracing.

Top photo via Wikipedia/By Wpcpey