By Todd Northrop and Kate Northrop

While life has been upended and millions of Americans are staying home due to the national COVID-19 response, state lotteries continue to operate every day — selling tickets, drawing numbers, and awarding prizes.

Two weeks ago Lottery Post surveyed every state lottery to determine what modified procedures have been put in place by each lottery to protect players and those who run the lottery from spreading the coronavirus.

The...

The Mega Millions Consortium announced today that in response to flagging sales due to the COVID-19 response, the multi-state lottery game's starting jackpot has been lowered and the amounts of subsequent starting jackpots and jackpot increases will be determined on a drawing-by-drawing basis. 

The advertised Mega Millions jackpot for tonight's drawing is a guaranteed $121 million. If the jackpot is won, it will reset to a guaranteed $20 million for the next drawing on Tuesday. If there is no jackpot winner tonight, the jackpot will roll to an annuitized value of $127 million.

The Powerball Product Group today announced its decision to further modify the rules for determining each successive Powerball jackpot roll, and set a firm implementation date rather than waiting for the next jackpot winner.

Today's changes are in addition to the modifications announced just last week.

The new Powerball rules for determining the advertised jackpot will be based strictly on game sales and interest rates, completely eliminating guaranteed starting jackpot amounts and minimum jackpot increases.

A Connecticut Lottery Corp. employee who had been self-isolating at home has tested positive for COVID-19, prompting lottery officials to announce they are temporarily moving operations from the lottery's Rocky Hill headquarters to a "backup facility" they declined to identify.

Unclaimed Ireland Lottery funds of €16 million (US$17.5 million) are being rapidly released to help battle coronavirus.

An Oregon man's $6.3 million lottery jackpot was made all the more lucky by the fact that his ticket was free — and he almost left it at the store.

A supply worker at Scientific Games in Alpharetta, Georgia, where scratch-off lottery tickets are made has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a company statement issued Monday.

Hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the American gaming industry, including the expanding legal sports betting market, is optimistic the federal relief bill signed into law Friday by President Donald Trump will help its recovery.

In a series of executive orders, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has increasingly forced businesses to close their doors to slow the spread of COVID-19, but there are three notable exceptions: Liquor, cannabis, and lottery tickets.

The California Lottery has closed its Sacramento office to employees after one of them tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a staff email the lottery sent on Friday night.