On Monday, casinos across Ontario were given the green light to re-open. Shorelines Casino in Belleville re-opened amidst the rising COVID-19 case totals.
By James Tubb
BELLEVILLE – The Ontario government is now gambling with more than money as casino’s re-opened Monday amidst a record number of COVID-19 cases.
Ontario is now in the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Doug Ford and health officials said Monday. Ford told reporters the second wave will be “more complex. It will be worse than the first wave we faced earlier this year.” Read more: https://t.co/KQSmyDkjSe pic.twitter.com/gC6U9C5gFg
— CBC Toronto (@CBCToronto) September 28, 2020
Even with the rising numbers, casinos appeared as busy as their restrictions would allow them to be with most of the available time slots fully booked throughout the day.
QNet News was able to talk with a few patrons from the Shorelines Casino in Belleville, about what the experience was like.
For John Feran, there was little concern about returning to the casino.
“I used to come all the time before it was shut down and it was always packed. It felt more un-safe then than it does now,” he said.
Even as the provinces cases totals continue to rise, the experience inside was a positive one for the 64-year-old.
“There’s hardly any people in there. They are all spaced out really good and they have arrows everywhere you have to follow. I feel safe in there, that’s for sure,” Feran said.
Feran sees the idea of closing down casinos and businesses in response to the second wave as very frustrating.
“Its not the bars and restaurants causing the large case counts, it’s the gatherings. I see it all over the place, groups of more than 20 or 30 people and no one complains. I guess they don’t want to because they’re all neighbours,” he said.
Sharen Irwin can understand why people don’t think casinos should have ever opened.
“As long as they keep people from Toronto coming out here, it should be fine. It is really no different than going to the grocery store,” she said.
It was a different experience for Irwin as the casino has limited what machines are available to ensure social distancing rules are being followed.
“The worst part about it was that you can’t always go on the machines you used to play. If you’re used to playing one machine, it may be booked or blocked off. I still had a lot of fun, this was very relaxing,” Irwin said.
The 63-year-old was not concerned with going to the casinos because of the lack of local COVID-19 cases.
“It’s Toronto. It’s the big cities, they should shut it down and get a hold of it. It is safer in there than going and walking around the mall,” she said.
Marlene Fenton shared the same frustration as Irwin regarding the big cities driving up the case count and potentially affecting the smaller cities.
“Why should we suffer if people from Toronto don’t follow the rules and we don’t have all the cases down here. Yet we suffer the same as they do. Its really frustrating,” she said
The 55-year-old felt safe in the casino because of how low the case count is in the area.
“Around here there aren’t many cases, so it’s already safe,” Fenton said.
She does not believe the Ontario government has done an effective enough job in keeping people safe.
“They suck … I don’t think kids should be back at school and I don’t think school buses should be full capacity. Thats where all the germs are,” she said.
Fenton isn’t sure yet if she will return to the casino any time soon as the requirement of wearing a mask is too much.
“It’s hard to wear a mask that long, I have medical reasons so we’ll see what happens. It’s something you can play online, It gets you out of the house,” she said.
Even though Muriel Revelle is not sure she will be back, she had a safe time inside the casino.
“I almost didn’t come with the news saying we are in the second wave, but I thought it was safe first thing in the morning. I was very impressed with how things were run,” she said.
Muriel Revelle had concerns about entering the casino amidst the rising case totals, but was very impressed with how it was run once inside. Photo taken by James Tubb.
For Revelle, being inside the casino was a safe experience that she enjoyed.
“There was no one around you, there are so few machines functioning right now. There’s no way anyone is ever even near you when you are playing.”
“It was almost like I was by myself at the casino,” Revelle said.
She believes the government should take a step back and re-enter a lockdown.
“I think they will have to retreat and go back to what we were at in May. We were lucky enough to do patios and things like that this summer. I think we are going to have to go back into our little nests and hibernate for a little while,” she said.
Even if the rising case count did not discourage her from going to the casino, she views it as something that needs to be monitored.
“It’s scary, very scary. It is something that should be taken very seriously,” Revelle said.
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