Winning the Lottery Jackpot During COVID-19 Outbreak

Lottery jackpots continue growing despite the uncertain situation around the world and in Canada. This is something the players can rely on, as the prizes keep on coming their way. Lotto 6/49 is the gaming offering that recently made a resident of the North Island Canada’s next lottery millionaire. Whoever is in possession of the winning ticket is no eligible for CA$1 million but the player might have to wait before collecting their prize.

British Columbia is among the provinces with a higher number of individuals having contracted the novel coronavirus. Wednesday saw them amount to 240 confirmed cases, but their number managed to increase to 271 by March 19. The region seeing the biggest COVID-19 outbreak is the Vancouver Coastal Health region with 152 confirmed cases of the virus.

Prize Collection at the Moment

The latest lottery millionaire in Canada hails from British Columbia, but the winners might have to wait for a while before having the chance to collect their prize. Under these unprecedented circumstances of health emergency and worldwide pandemic, players face some restrictions when it comes to their prize collection. British Columbia Lottery Corporation announced its decision to close its prize payout centers.

• BCLC Battles COVID-19, Eyes Saanich Casino Expansion

There are two of them, in Kamloops and Vancouver and they were closed eyeing flattening the curve of the COVID-19 outbreak. Lottery winners often make their way to the prize payout centers from distant areas of the province and this could potentially worsen the health situation in Vancouver and Kamloops. For the time being, the Crown corporation has not decided when it would open the offices again.

• BCLC Kamloops, Vancouver Executive Positions Almost Fulfilled

In this sense, the millionaire hailing from the North Island would have to patiently wait for the collection of their CA$1-million prize. Over the past couple of weeks, several big wins were linked to the region, making it a rather fortunate one. The beginning of March saw a BC/49 ticket become eligible for CA$2 million. The special piece of paper had been sold in Courtenay ahead of the draw.

Uncertainty Grows

Shortly after that, on March 11 a group of seven individuals playing Lotto 6/49 together as a friendly activity became eligible for CA$1 million. They would have to divide the overall prize in seven once they get the opportunity to bag it, but this is a bonding experience they would share forever.

• BCLC Endorses Upcoming Kamloops Center for the Arts

The people that have recently won a prize in the CA$1-CA$200 range have the chance to claim their prize at one of the lottery retail locations. There are some retail locations that might have the resources to pay prize up to CA$2,000 but the Crown corporation pointed out that this is not a common practice. Lottery retailers usually do not keep this amount of cash in their store for safety reasons and players might be disappointed to learn that they would not bag their prize.

• BCLC Prioritizes Player Protection with Informative Event

The recent Lotto MAX draw was unable to meet the players’ expectations and the CA$55-million Main prize was left untouched. March 17 brought the latest chance of winning big, however, there was not a single ticket matching the numbers highlighted during the draw. The additional MAXMILLIONS draw was also fruitless, as there were no new Lotto MAX millionaires in Canada. As for the Encore draw, it was capable of bringing CA$353,405 in cash prizes.