{"id":186250,"date":"2021-09-20T03:04:40","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T10:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=186250"},"modified":"2021-10-05T10:15:05","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T17:15:05","slug":"goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/","title":{"rendered":"Goa\u2019s Casinos Can Reopen at Half Capacity in India, COVID Safeguards Required"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gaming venues in Goa, one of India\u2019s major travel destinations, were allowed to reopen on Monday. They were shuttered for several months because of risk from the nation\u2019s second major wave of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\"Casinos
The Majestic Pride Casino, pictured above. The floating casino reopened after Goa, India permitted gaming venues to operate at 50 percent capacity as long as they adhere to COVID safeguards. (Image: Majestic Pride Group)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For now, casino capacity is capped at 50 percent. The casinos must also follow a variety of health safeguards. These include social distancing, wearing of masks, and checking of temperatures.<\/p>\n

\n

Those who enter casinos must be asymptomatic and fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Indian Express<\/em>, a national newspaper. You must wait 15 days since receiving the second dose of the vaccine or show negative RT-PCR COVID test results to enter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The reopening comes after promising data on the number of COVID-19 cases were seen by an expert committee in Goa. As of Saturday, Goa saw 771 active COVID cases. Two people died, the Indian Express<\/em> said.<\/p>\n

Much of India was hit hard with the Delta variant of COVID-19. In many locations, there were shortages of hospital space<\/a> for those suffering from COVID-19, and many residents died<\/a> from the virus.<\/p>\n

Peak Tourism Season Starts Next Month<\/h2>\n

The reopening also comes in time for Goa\u2019s major tourist season. It typically runs from October to March, the Indian Express<\/em> said.<\/p>\n

Casinos are considered important for Goa\u2019s tourism sector. They also employ thousands of workers. Goa has six casinos on boats in the Mandovi River. There are also others located in hotels, the Indian Express<\/em> said.<\/p>\n

Gaming, Hotel Sectors Hurt by Closures<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt has been a very hard time,\u201d said Shrinivas Nayak, director of the Majestic Pride Group, which operates the Majestic Pride Casino, to the Indian Express<\/em> about the shuttering.<\/p>\n

In the first lockdown, we were shut for about seven months. This time, it was for about four months and 20 days,”<\/strong> he added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe had no revenue, but we still had to bear 70-80 percent of our expenses. The lockdown was uncertain and it kept extending week by week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nilesh Shah, president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, said that \u201cwith casinos reopening, almost 14,000 people working in the industry will get a boost. In addition, the hotel industry in Panaji and in North Goa will also get a boost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, occupancy is about 20-30 percent, he adds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gaming venues in Goa, one of India\u2019s major travel destinations, were allowed to reopen on Monday. They were shuttered for several months because of risk from the nation\u2019s second major wave of COVID-19. For now, casino capacity is capped at 50 percent. The casinos must also follow a variety of health safeguards. These include social […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":186252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,81881],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoa\u2019s Casinos Can Reopen at Half Capacity, COVID Safeguards in Place<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gaming venues in Goa, one of India\u2019s major travel destinations, were allowed to reopen on Monday. They were shuttered for several months.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Goa\u2019s Casinos Can Reopen at Half Capacity, COVID Safeguards in Place\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gaming venues in Goa, one of India\u2019s major travel destinations, were allowed to reopen on Monday. They were shuttered for several months.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-20T10:04:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-05T17:15:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Majestic-Pride.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"501\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/\",\"name\":\"Goa\u2019s Casinos Can Reopen at Half Capacity, COVID Safeguards in Place\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Majestic-Pride.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-20T10:04:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-05T17:15:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"Gaming venues in Goa, one of India\u2019s major travel destinations, were allowed to reopen on Monday. They were shuttered for several months.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Majestic-Pride.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Majestic-Pride.jpg\",\"width\":1350,\"height\":501},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Asia Pacific Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Goa\u2019s Casinos Can Reopen at Half Capacity in India, COVID Safeguards Required\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\",\"name\":\"Ed Silverstein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Ed Silverstein\"},\"description\":\"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Goa\u2019s Casinos Can Reopen at Half Capacity, COVID Safeguards in Place","description":"Gaming venues in Goa, one of India\u2019s major travel destinations, were allowed to reopen on Monday. They were shuttered for several months.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Goa\u2019s Casinos Can Reopen at Half Capacity, COVID Safeguards in Place","og_description":"Gaming venues in Goa, one of India\u2019s major travel destinations, were allowed to reopen on Monday. They were shuttered for several months.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2021-09-20T10:04:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-05T17:15:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1350,"height":501,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Majestic-Pride.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed Silverstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgedsilv","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Silverstein","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/","name":"Goa\u2019s Casinos Can Reopen at Half Capacity, COVID Safeguards in Place","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Majestic-Pride.jpg","datePublished":"2021-09-20T10:04:40+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-05T17:15:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e"},"description":"Gaming venues in Goa, one of India\u2019s major travel destinations, were allowed to reopen on Monday. They were shuttered for several months.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Majestic-Pride.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Majestic-Pride.jpg","width":1350,"height":501},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/goas-casinos-can-reopen-at-half-capacity-in-india-covid-safeguards-required\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Asia Pacific Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Goa\u2019s Casinos Can Reopen at Half Capacity in India, COVID Safeguards Required"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e","name":"Ed Silverstein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","caption":"Ed Silverstein"},"description":"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186250"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}