The new decade started with big changes. 2020 entered without knocking on the door and now the whole world is welcoming the unwanted guest. The new year has puzzled the whole world and literally every single country. The novel virus which was first discovered in Wuhan, China on the 31st of December 2019, has now spread all over the world.
The World Health Organization has announced the novel virus as the emergency and has titled it as pandemic on the 13th of March. The COVID-19 is already observed in every single country in the world and has affected nearly one million people. The dominating country is the US and the epicenter in Europe is still Italy. No one knows how the virus will continue the development, but we all know that its trajectory is threatening for every country on Earth.
Impact on Industries
Many major industries all across the world have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. There is not really much the country and authorities can do about the virus at the moment, but every country is trying to prevent further spread of the virus. Over 40,000 people have been killed by the virus all over the world and the hospitals literally can take no more. There are no empty spaces in the hospital and they can not take any new patients.
Due to this circumstance, the only wise way is to prevent further infections and avoid any new patience in the hospital rooms. This is a very hard thing to do, but several countries have already taken certain measures in place. The first major step made by many countries was to close all non-essential businesses and ban unnecessary movement and transportation.
The first places to shutdown were the main gathering and socializing spots. Those were the bars, cafes, restaurants, pubs, clubs and of course casinos. All of the previously mentioned venues closed as soon as the first several cases in the countries were discovered. This is a huge hit for the entertainment business. Some of the businesses might not even come back to life due to very big expenditures and literally zero income.
One of the major industries in the world, which is also considered to be one of the most lucrative industries is the gambling industry. The casinos all over the world are forced to shut down. Even Macau, the gambling capital of China, the only province where gambling is actually legal had to close all 42 casinos for security purposes. The casinos in Macau were closed for 14 days, which is the longest period in the history for casinos to close.
The industry hit did not end in Macau. Many other leading gambling markets had to implement the same strategies and adopt the same moves. Once the most lucrative industry in the world now is closed and has exactly zero profit. The casinos have already lost twice as much as they expected to benefit by that time of the year.
Some of the major gambling capitals like Nevada, Canada, the UK, and Australia also had to close the venue due to the security measures. The casinos are closed all over the world in order to avoid additional public gatherings. Instead of the land-based casinos, some of the countries have taken certain new regulations regarding the online gambling industry.
While the land-based casino industry is slowly sinking, the online gambling industry is having its moment. This is the most profitable period for online casinos. The customers who are now locked at their houses with nowhere to go have one of the best entertainment methods at their screens.
Similarly to the European and generally western civilizations, many African countries also followed the tendency. Kenya, for now, is one of the African countries which took the biggest hit among the African countries. Kenya has introduced severe measures to society. Just like the European countries, all non-essential venues are also closed in Kenya. Once the measures were undertaken, there was the issue of dealing with the additional time that citizens would have on their hands and what they would do to that time. The complete shutdown of the economy means lost jobs and people relying on their savings for the foreseeable future. Luckily, Kenya had a perfect example to follow, Germany. Although in terms of resources Kenya’s German colleagues were much more capable, there were still some policies that were achievable. For example, the additional regulation of online casinos that we’re more than ready to jump at this amazing opportunity.
According to Erik Vohs, the PR manager of Spinia casino Deutschland (Germany), the company was immediately contacted by German regulators and asked if the maximum deposit could be reduced to only 50 EUR per person. This ensured that the free time that citizens now had would not be spent on wasting their savings. Kenya is undertaking the same policy and trying to discourage any and all gambling online. According to metrics for the Eastern African gambling industry, it seems to be working as sales are down nearly 99%.
Kenya introduces new regulations
With the massive outbreak of COVID-19 all across the world, every single country has already suffered a lot. Despite that Africa might be considered to be a remote place to be, the virus definitely does not recognize any borders. Kenya, an East African country has experienced very severe outcomes due to a coronavirus outbreak in the country.
By the end of the last week, the Kenyan government made an announcement that the security measures in the country will be increased. Thus, the government took the decision to introduce the curfew in the whole country. This is the second case of the curfew in the country after their independence. The severe measures are introduced in order to prevent any further coronavirus infections, as the Health System in the country might not handle the acute problem.
None of the businesses are allowed after 7 PM until 5 AM, across the country. While the measures are understood to be for the sake of the public health, some of the business owners and the employees are still very confused and are looking for the best decision to make during these hard times.
The local businesses are left with the questions. One of the main questions is to continue operation or to close the business. The problem is that the number of customers has already decreased. Moreover, the employers have to work until 7 PM in order for the workers to be at home on time, otherwise, they will be fined or sent to prison. The dilemma is yet very hard. The local government addressed those businesses and encouraged them to support their employees via taxis or private cars.
Another dilemma that comes with the introduction of the curfew is that the police and the security workers are the only people allowed to be out from 7 PM until 5 AM. They have to take care and control the transportation in the streets and to control if everything is going right and everyone is obeying the rules and the new regulations.
The only services that are supposed to work during the following two weeks are the medical sector, retail, media, telecommunications, aviation, food supply chain and of course the emergency services together with the security services.
Once the meeting was over
The announcement was made on the 27th of March. Before the announcement, the whole day-long meeting between authorities was conducted. The participants of the meeting were the National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC) who agreed to rope in officers from the General Service Unit (GSU), Kenya Prisons, National Youth Service (NYS) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to assist those from the Kenya Police Service.
According to the outcomes of the meeting the security measures in the country will be strengthened. The curfew is allowed only for a two week period, but once the government collected the necessary amount of votes in parliament, which is two-third of votes for the continuation of the strict regime, they can continue it for a maximum up to two month period.
The situation is definitely none of the best and none of the easiest either. The companies and private employers are facing dilemmas and at first sight, there is no right or wrong decision within the situation. Thousands of people have lost their jobs already and many more might soon face the problem.
The curfew regime was last announced in the country back in 2017, to fight the post-election violence. At that time, everyone who would breach the law was taken to the prison, or court and whether sent to the jail for three months, fined or both. Now there is one more topic to discuss. What if someone breaks the law at this time.
If the police catch someone in the street during the commandant hour, they will be fined or should be taken to the investigation and sent to jail. Though, the concern arises. If arrested, to which court will be people taken, while everything is suspended. Or if sent to the prison, does not it increase the chance of the coronavirus infection in one cell?
While the cost of the curfew is very high, certain questions are yet unanswered and maybe very soon they will be addressed, though before that, the curfew nightmare is dominating the whole country, despite Kenya has not yet switched to the full lockdown.