Latvia’s government has rejected calls to lift its ban on online gambling activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite there being no obvious health benefit to the prohibition.

On Friday, Lativa’s Saeima (parliament) voted down a proposal to exempt locally licensed online gambling operators from the temporary ban on gambling activity imposed last month to minimize further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The unexpected inclusion of online gambling caused the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection of Latvia (IAUI) to request clarification from the government on its interpretation of the emergency legislation.

This cause was taken up by Latvia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as Saeima’s budget and finance committee, both of which noted that banning online gambling (a) flies in the face of the other nation’s methods of combatting COVID-19 spread, and (b) would only steer local gamblers to internationally licensed online competitors.