France has reportedly become the latest European nation to begin allowing its casinos to re-open following an eleven-week shutdown at the hands of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a report from iGamingBusiness.com, France is home to around 200 casinos that will be permitted to begin welcoming gamblers again from later today so long as they are located within one of the nation’s ‘green zones’ where the risk of falling victim to the potentially-lethal coronavirus ailment has been accessed as low.

Parisian perimeter:

The news domain reported that every one of France’s 96 administrative departments with the exception of the heavily urbanized Ile-de-France have been given the ‘green zone’ classification meaning that only casinos located within or near Paris are to be restricted from re-opening at this time.

Supplementary safety:

Groupe Partouche operates 38 casinos across France and reportedly told iGamingBusiness.com that it will be partially re-opening all of these properties from today only featuring slots and electronic table games. The Paris-headquartered firm purportedly explained that it is to also initiate a range of new social distancing protocols that are to require customers and staff to wear protective face masks and see machines fitted with plexiglass screens and spaced further apart.

Extra efforts:

Dominique Desseigne, President and Chief Executive Officer for fellow French casino operator Groupe Lucien Barriere, reportedly detailed that his firm will be reviving operations at 33 properties from later today featuring a special focus on digitalization after earlier reorganizing their gaming floors so as to create more distance between machines and tables.

Desseigne reportedly told iGamingBusiness.com…

“The gradual re-opening of the majority of our establishments is great news for our group. Faced with this health and economic crisis that affects all sectors and particularly that of tourism and leisure, our employees have mobilized, each in their own way, to bring their expertise and innovative ideas to implement new health protocols and anticipate the new expectations of our customers in our hotels, restaurants, bars and casinos.”

European overview:

Elsewhere and iGamingBusiness.com reported that casinos in Austria were allowed to emerge from their own coronavirus-related slumber from Friday while gambling-friendly venues in Bulgaria re-opened yesterday. Switzerland is purportedly set to allow such venues to again begin welcoming players on Saturday with those in the Netherlands due to follow suit around July 1.