Governments need to step in and help the international amusement machine industry as the Covid-19 pandemic increases in infections across Europe.
Euromat, the federation of European trade associations in the amusement industry, has issued a statement to illustrate its alarm at the impact the second wave is having on the industry.
It follows the escalation measures issued this week by both France and Germany, intended to contain the spread of the virus. Euromat has set out four principles that it is asking governments to take into account as they manage the virus impact.
President Jason Frost said: “From the beginning of the crisis, our first priority has been the safety and health of our customers and staff. It is why we invested so heavily in the spring in safety measures to ensure safe operation once venues were allowed to reopen earlier this year.
“As we now face the prospect of a second lockdown in several European countries, we are asking European governments to learn the lessons of earlier this year and ensure that they put support in place quickly for those businesses and their staff that will face temporary closure.
“Public health in the widest possible sense has to be the priority and keeping people in jobs during an uncertain time should be an important objective for governments.”
The four principles begin with the necessity to communicate clearly and consistently. “New restrictions need to be consistent and without contradictions to keep public confidence and give the industry certainty," it said.
Secondly comes employment support and liquidity schemes. They should be in place quickly and accessible, without exclusions for our sector. “Public money should be there to support jobs of any kind.”
Next, it said, governments should think about the impact on the full supply chain. “We are lucky to have a fantastic manufacturing footprint for our industry in Europe and while it is easy to see the immediate impact on operators, manufacturers are also under pressure. These are jobs that we need in Europe and governments should make every effort to protect.”
Finally, said Frost, governments should work with the sector both on an orderly entry into and exit from lockdown. “We need to work together if we are to get out of this and back to economic recovery. We have learned a lot from the past six months and we want to work with governments to make sure that we get back to safe operations as quickly as possible.”
