The Western Canada Lottery Corporation is feeling the economic pinch that COVID19 has presented as not as many are buying lottery tickets even though the jackpots are still big, as is the case Friday night, with the Lotto Max top prize standing at 70 million dollars and Saturday’s 6-49 featuring a jackpot of 14 million dollars.

WCLC spokesperson Kevin Van Egdom says there are several reasons for this with one of them being some retailers are no longer offering lottery sales because they are closed with others simply deciding not to do so for the protection of their workers. He says one thing that has become popular over the last month is playing by subscription which can be purchased online, or by phone.

As for how much sales have dropped since our usual routine was thrown into chaos, Van Egdom says it is hard to tell. He says obviously SportsSelect has had zero sales since there are no games being played.

For people fortunate enough to hit the jackpots, there are mail in options and expiry dates are being extended so people can continue to claim their prizes when the pandemic is done.