The whole world is struggling to cope with the outbreak of Covid-19 and Australia is no different as the confirmed cases of the virus reaches above 2000.

The federal government has announced a lockdown on all non-essential services, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying on Sunday that all casinos, restaurants, clubs, bars, gyms, and places of worship were to remain shut during this crisis.

Crown Casino, which is a unit of one of Australia’s largest gaming and entertainment groups Crown Limited, announced on Monday that they would be closing all their restaurants, bars and gaming activities.

This is a big blow for the gambling giant whose shares have already fallen by half since late February.

Crown was facing a lot of public criticism for continuing its operations despite the crisis in the country.

Even though Crown enforced social distancing at their gaming tables, many critics questioned the government’s logic of prioritizing the financial well-being of a major tax contributor over public health.

“COVID-19 has created unprecedented challenges for Crown and many others in Australia," The CEO of the gambling giant Ken Barton said in a statement. 

“In accordance with the statements issued by the Commonwealth Government and the Direction of the Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer, we have closed certain of Crown’s facilities in Melbourne and Perth.

“Crown is a major employer in both Victoria and Western Australia with over 18,500 people working across our complexes.

“We continue to balance our responsibilities to our people in a manner which is in the interests of the health and safety of Crown employees, customers and the broader community.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s other leading gambling entertainment group Tabcorp has also been badly affected by the outbreak of this virus. 

Tabcorp, who employs more than 5000 people and has betting terminals in pubs, clubs and retail agencies, also closed in order to control the spread of Coronavirus. 

It is said that their shares fell 14.5 per cent on Monday while the value of its stocks have also decreased by half since late February. 

Tabcorp’s chief executive David Attenborough said in a statement that they are working with all the relevant stakeholders in order to control the impact of the virus on their businesses and customers. 

The company is said to be focusing on encouraging its customers to wager online, like CasinoAdvisers.com, rather than placing bets in pubs or retail outlets. 

According to JP Morgan expert Don Carducci, racing would likely get disrupted in the present situation, with the United Kingdom already cancelled the 2020 Grand National-the most valuable jump race in Europe. 

This could have a huge impact on Tabcorp as racing make up 86 per cent of the company’s wagering revenue.  

Businesses around the world have suffered severely due to the spread of the Coronavirus, which went largely ignored when it first originated in China. 

The virus has been spreading at a greatly alarming speed, with China, Italy, USA, Spain, Germany, France and Iran as some of the worst-affected countries. 

Total cases of Coronavirus have reached almost 70,000 in Italy, taking its death toll to about 6800, while the USA has been grappling with above 50,000 total cases of the virus.   

The situation in Australia does not look as severe as China or the US, with its cases a little over 2000, but the country is taking great precautionary measures to avoid the fate of these countries. 

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