VANCOUVER -- Staying at home during the COVID-19 crisis just became a lot more comfortable for someone in B.C.
Lottery officials say the winning ticket for Wednesday's Lotto 6/49 draw – worth a whopping $16 million and change – was purchased somewhere in Surrey.
The winning numbers for the April 15 draw, as listed on the B.C. Lottery Corporation website, are 01, 03, 07, 13, 22 and 47.
The lucky winner who matched all six numbers has not yet come forward to claim the $16,460,052.50 jackpot.
Due to physical distancing requirements, the BCLC has been forced to close its offices to the public and change the way people claim prizes.
For the time being, anyone who wins a prize worth more than $25,000 has to phone BCLC at 1-866-815-0222.
Lottery players who win prizes of $25,000 or less can claim their cash by mailing their ticket to the BCLC player services office in Kamloops – but they must follow the proper procedure, which includes signing the front of the ticket and writing their name, address and phone number on the back.
Earlier this week, a man from Coldstream, a small community in B.C.'s Okanagan Valley, used the new system to claim a $1 million prize from another 6/49 draw.
Randall McDuff purchased the ticket to the March 28 draw from a 7-Eleven in Vernon, and said his first priority once things settle down will be to go to Manitoba and visit family he hasn't seen for years.
"My family is older and I would like the opportunity to see them again once I am able to," McDuff told the BCLC.
Lottery officials have also extended the deadline to claim some prizes as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Tickets set to expire between March 17 and Sept. 17 will be honoured for an extra six months.
The odds of actually winning a Lotto 6/49 jackpot remain extremely low at about one in 14 million.
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