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he Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, along with the new Chief of Staff, Juan Manzur, assured that as of October 1, social gatherings will be allowed without capacity restriction, complying with prevention measures, masks, social distance, and room-ventilation; she also enabled 100% occupancy capacity in economic, industrial, commercial, service, religious, cultural, sports, recreational and social activities in enclosed places, keeping the same prevention measures.
In this way, it is implicit that the activity in casinos, gambling halls, and racetracks will be able to operate at 100% capacity, or at least to greatly ease the capacity limit, although the gaming regulatory entities consulted have not yet been able to confirm the measure.
Regarding nighttime activities, another important point for the operation of gaming halls, it was said that evening clubs, for example, could open with a 50 % capacity, with a complete vaccination scheme (14 days prior to the event), but she clarified that “it is the activity with the highest risk, taking into account the Delta variant”.
Something similar will happen with party halls, dance halls, or similar activities, which will be enabled for people who can submit proof of a complete vaccination scheme, or a first dose plus the negative result of a test carried out within 48 hours prior to the event. There will also be a special protocol for parties for those under 17 years of age, while vaccination in teenagers progresses.
For mass events of more than a thousand people, such as those held at racetracks, or fairs and congresses, as of October 1, they will be held with a 50 % capacity, and “the specific protocol in relation to the requirements will be carefully worked through with the involved parties”.
Regarding the opening of borders, which is closely related to the operation of gambling halls in tourist places, they clarified that they must study the estimated dates with the migrations department, ANAC, and other authorities. As of October 1, the entry of foreigners from neighboring countries will be authorized, without requiring quarantine; and the opening of land borders will be up to each provincial governor.
Between October 1 and November 1, the progressive entry quota will be increased in all safe corridors, airports, ports, and land entrances, and finally, on November 1 the entry of all foreigners will be enabled. Although complete vaccination will be requested, with the last dosage application date being at least 14 days prior to the person’s arrival in the country, this will reactivate international events in Argentina, as well as an income from international tourism that will help those operators focused on tourist spots in the country.
It should be noted that at the beginning of the conference, Vizzotti provided the latest epidemiological data: “Vaccination has reached 63.4% of people who started their vaccination scheme: 87.5% of those over 18 have at least one dose of any of the available vaccines, and 92% of the people considered high-risk are vaccinated. The complete scheme is reaching 82% in those over 50 years of age. The next step is to start vaccination for those over 18 years of age, going from home to home. We need 2.5 million second doses to reach 50% of the population with two doses”. And she concluded: “We want to raise the vaccination scheme in teenagers, with Pfizer and AstraZeneca for children of ages between 12 and 17. With this recovery strategy and keeping with this method of constant carefulness, we can take another step in the opening of activities. As of today, we have begun to work with all the ministries to establish the regulatory framework”.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international//noticias/2021/09/21/59400-argentina-announced-plan-to-lift-capacity-restrictions-in-casinos-and-gaming-halls
