In order to fully comply with the Québec provincial government’s quarantine orders, Loto-Québec will only be providing online sales for at least the next two weeks. All sales of lottery products at both retailers and kiosks have been suspended, while the operator also deactivated its network of sales terminals.
This move was made to follow measures in place to try to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Québec government ordered that all non-essential businesses close as the province’s total number of cases of the virus reached 628 on March 25. Most businesses, including bars, movie theaters, malls, gyms, libraries and others deemed non-essential, including retail betting and gaming facilities, will close.
As a result, Loto-Québec announced that they would contact the 8,500 retailers and kiosk operators across the province to inform them of the decision. Customers will still be able to purchase tickets using Loto-Québec’s online platform and physical tickets already purchased will remain valid for upcoming drawings.
“With the health and wellbeing of its customers in mind, Loto-Québec, takes the current situation very seriously and will not hesitate to put into place additional measures as needed,” the company explained in a statement. “We will inform the public as soon as possible concerning the implementation of this new measure.”
Québec became the first province in Canada to order the closure of non-essential businesses, but they would not be the last. Just a short time after the provincial government announced the closures, the government in Ontario implemented similar restrictions. Both governments ordered that these businesses would be closed for a period of 14 days but that this could possibly be extended depending upon the number of cases reported during that time.
Currently, there are 2,780 cases of COVID-19 either confirmed or presumptive, in Canada. Québec has the largest share of those cases, with 1,013.
