Liverpool casinos will be the first victims of the U.K. government’s tougher stance towards COVID restrictions. From the 14th October all casinos and betting shops in the Merseyside area will be forced into a temporary closure to slow the spread of COVID.

Prime Minister Boris Johnston announced a three-tier system for restrictions, depending on the risk of transmission in the area. The Liverpool area falls into the top tier risk of infection, meaning all tier three areas will be under a temporary closure order until October 25th at the earliest.

Prime Minister Boris Johnston was forced to defend the restrictions during his address to the U.K. parliament. “This is not how we want to live our lives, but this is the narrow path we must tread between the social and economic trauma of a full lockdown and the massive human and economic cost of an uncontained epidemic,” he said.

In a statement on their website, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) urged the government to consider the implications of temporary closures: