Chile’s struggling casino operators could be allowed to expand into online gambling under a plan floated by the government to offset operators’ COVID-19 struggles.

On Tuesday, Chilean media reported that the government plans to send Congress a proposal to allow automatic renewals of the operating permits of 14 casinos that were scheduled to expire this year. The casinos’ right to operate would be extended for 12 months, after which the originally planned bidding process for renewal of the permits would occur.

All 26 of Chile’s casinos were closed in mid-March due to COVID-19 and have yet to reopen. The government announced last week that the casinos might not be reopened until September or possibly even October.

This is weighing heavily on both the casino operators and the municipalities that host them. Some of the casinos are operated by local governments that derive more than half of their operating budgets from gaming revenue.