The Finnish regulatorVeikkaus decided to close all gambling establishments in 12 regions of the country. This initiative is due to the growing number of Covid-19 cases.

The corresponding order from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health came in the evening of November 26th. The document states that an “alarming” number of new cases and hospitalizations has been recorded in the last week, especially in the vicinity of the capital Helsinki.

Initially, Veikkaus planned to take 3,500 machines offline, but now by the end of 2020 its work stop 8000 slot machines.

In addition, the pilot program for account-based gaming, which will require customers to register to gain access to slots, has been expanded to more regions.

The regulator has also lowered the maximum weekly spending limit on online entertainment from 2000 to 500 euros.

Recall that the French sector of online gamblingbegan to overcome crisis.