Brazil’s casino legalization hopes got another boost this week after the country’s tourism minister said he’s crafting a proposal for authorizing integrated resorts.

On Thursday, Tourism Minister Marcelo Álvaro Antônio gave an interview to Brazilian media outlet O Tempo in which he discussed means for kickstarting the local tourism sector once the COVID-19 pandemic finishes ravaging the country.

Among the weapons in the minister’s quiver are casino-equipped integrated resorts, something that is presently not possible in South America’s most populous nation. For years now, efforts have been made to sway the government on the economic benefits of casinos, but the idea has never managed to gain anything resembling traction.

But that was before Brazil surpassed Italy to achieve the dubious honor of having the third-highest rate of COVID-19 cases in the world. As of Wednesday, Brazil had over 291k confirmed infections and 18,859 deaths, and both figures are accelerating rapidly. Two weeks ago, before the death rate ballooned, Statista estimated that Brazil’s tourism revenue could fall by nearly 39% this year.