Kamloops casinos prepare for July 1 reopening

More than three-quarters of employees are being welcomed back at Kamloops casinos effective July 1, as part of the province’s move to Step 3 of its COVID-19 pandemic restart plan.

Casinos across B.C. have been closed since March 2020, the onset of the pandemic, but under Step 3 are permitted to reopen with capacity limits and safety measures in place.

Approximately 160 employees at Cascades Casino in Aberdeen and 75 employees at Chances Casino in Brocklehurst are expected to return to work, according to Tanya Gabara, spokesperson for Gateway Casinos, which owns the two Kamloops businesses.

She said pre-pandemic, roughly 100 people were employed at Chances and about 200 at Cascades.

“As restrictions are lifted, more staff will be returned to active work,” she told KTW via email. “We are pleased to see that many of our team members have hung in there with us.” 

Under current restrictions, poker games at Cascades and bingo at Chances won’t be offered due to the limitations of room layouts, which cannot provide the required social distancing while hosting enough people to make the games viable, according to the company.

Cascades and Chances are following all guidance from regulators and will make adjustments as required, a press release from Gateway stated.

Their capacities will be the same as the number of seats available on the gaming floors, in addition to occupancy for amenities such as restaurants and lounges.

Players and staff will be required to wear a face masks in the casinos, but will need to remove them at times for identification purposes.

Only table games in which cards can be dealt face up will be offered as players cannot touch their cards. Casino staff will complete training about enhanced health and safety procedures and will be “hyper-vigilant” in cleaning protocols, the release stated.

Two metres of space between table games, slot machines and other gambling equipment will be in place, while entry and exit routes will be partitioned and floor markings posted to control traffic flow.

As for the restaurants in each casino, Match Eatery and  Atlas Steak + Fish at Cascades and the Barside Lounge & Grill at Chances are already open with COVID-19 operating plans in place. A third restaurant at Cascades, The Buffet, will remain closed under the current restrictions.