You’d be surprised by the fact that of all the niches that could have otherwise boomed during this COVID-19 pandemic, online gambling is amongst those that thrived. While this isn’t necessarily a call for celebration, there are far more sinister things at play here that we should all know about.
COVID-19: the global pandemic
The noble coronavirus has significantly raised a huge number of health-related issues and the worst part is it has brought life-threatening consequences that humans have never faced before. At least, in terms of preventive health measures such as vaccines.
COVID-19 is such a defining health crisis of this era and since its emergence in 2019, the virus has reached every single continent of the planet (with Antarctica being an exception). Deaths are quickly climbing and the government for each region is doing its best to at least slow down the spread of the virus.
One of the major steps to accomplish this is to force a global lockdown. People are highly encouraged to avoid physical contact and as much as possible, stay indoors at all times.
The financial impact of the coronavirus
The pandemic has naturally caused a ripple effect across mankind, having nearly every single country in a global lockdown to prevent the further spread of the virus. The whole world is at its all-time low with pretty much every business, big or small, and industry imaginable are all affected.
But the coronavirus brings so much more than just a health crisis, it also brought unprecedented socio-economic problems.
The economy for every state and country is not stable, to say the least. It has become quite a challenge for everyone to stay afloat. Livelihoods are being taken, people are losing jobs, and finding one, to begin with, has never been harder. Tourism, education, agriculture, and more have severely suffered over the last months.
How online gambling thrived
Despite all this, one niche in particular that somehow benefited from the lockdowns is the online gambling market. With its land-based and brick-and-mortar counterparts sadly having to be closed down, the only space is a great opportunity to attract players at these trying times.
The number of casino online users have since grown impressively. More people have been convinced that online gambling is a preferable option at times where everyone’s left with no other choice but to stay at the comfort of home.
With so many sporting events being canceled and delayed, it has become difficult for betting venues and bookmakers to stay in operations. The same can be said true for online casino houses and not even the most luxurious casino resorts in Singapore could afford to take any risk.
Lucky for hardcore gamblers, there seem to be no signs of live casino Singapore websites ever slowing down any time soon with such an increasing demand for these online casino games.
The underlying health concerns
There is one thing that many seem to be overlooked about the health crisis that the coronavirus is causing. In a recent study by health professionals, there is a substantial increase in mental health problems related to online gambling.
One glaring problem, in particular, is gambling addiction. Other findings also mention the increase in video gaming and addictive internet usage. Furthermore, there have been some notable surges of substance use as well.
Interestingly enough, the study suggests that online gambling addiction is caused by moderate to severe anxiety and depression across people of different ages. The fact that many online casino websites have become a great alternative with the absence of physical gambling venues didn’t help either.
Online gamblers are at high-risk
With everything that we have learned so far, online gambling still imposes threats that could amplify the health risks of people, not just financially.