Nevada hit hard Thriving casino, hospitality and entertainment industries made southern Nevada a hub for tourism and jobs. But as the pandemic and resulting public health guidelines shut down casinos and hotels like Fiesta Henderson where Taufa worked, the jobs seemingly disappeared overnight. Steve Sisolak further restricted public gathering in Las Vegas casinos and other areas of life Sunday in response to rising Covid-19 cases, as the state struggles to balance health. Expertise: Crime, Legal, Tribal Gaming. A man was left in critical condition on Monday after an assault and robbery outside of Laughlin, Nevada’s Colorado Belle Casino Resort. The man was found.
Statewide pause as situation escalates
Nevada casinos will operate at 25% capacity starting Tuesday, November 24, in the wake of record daily COVID-19 cases in the state. Governor Steve Sisolak said the number of virus infections is at “wildfire levels”, placing the region in a “red zone”.
The governor tweeted out a link to his Sunday press conference, where he talked through upcoming changes for the state:
Gov. Sisolak announced a “statewide pause” for three weeks. All residents and visitors must wear a face covering or mask at all times when in the presence of someone who is not a part of their household. Capacity levels at many businesses and gatherings will drop from 50% to 25%, while retail establishments will not have to further restrict occupancy.
Quelling the virus
While there is no shutdown order, the goal of the three-week pause is to “aggressively try to attack this spread” while also enabling the economy and daily life to continue somewhat. Bars and restaurants too will be subject to the 25% capacity rule. All restaurant-goers will need to have a reservation, with a maximum of four patrons allowed to sit at a single table.
chance of casinos returning to better gaming floor occupancies
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) will be in charge of enforcing the new capacity restrictions at casinos. NGCB chairman J. Brin Gibson has noted that the more Nevada mitigates the spread of the virus in the coming weeks, the greater the chance of casinos returning to better gaming floor occupancies.
A struggling sector
If the latest set of restrictions are not effective, the virus cases continue to rise, and the healthcare system is under strain, Gov. Sisolak will have to take stronger action.
On March 18, he issued a closure order for gaming operations in Nevada for 78 days. Casinos were able to reopen on June 4 while adhering to strict health and safety, capacity, and hygiene guidelines. The sector has been struggling somewhat to deal with the fallout of the pandemic. Gaming revenues were down 45% through September, as airline passenger volume at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport fell 56.5%.
As a result of lower demand from patrons, a number of casinos are no longer opening during the week. The latest to do so will be the hotel operations at The Mirage and Mandalay Bay. MGM Resorts International announced that these properties will be closed Mondays through Thursdays starting November 30.
STATELINE, Nev. (CBS SF/AP) — If your Thanksgiving holiday plans include a trip to the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe or in the Reno area, prepared for tough new COVID restrictions amid a surge of new cases.
On Sunday, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced plans to tighten restrictions on casinos, restaurants and private gatherings such as Thanksgiving dinner in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The new restrictions, which are scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday, come amid an unprecedented surge that has broken records in the state in terms of cases, deaths and infection rates throughout November.
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The virus has surged throughout the United States and prompted governors to issue a patchwork of area-specific restrictions. California has curfew order in effect in the majority of its counties and, earlier Sunday, Los Angeles County moved to prohibit in-person dining.
Sisolak, who has avoided tightening mandates throughout the fall due to the havoc they could wreak on Nevada’s tourism-based economy, said the trends led to an “inescapable conclusion.”
“We are on a rapid trajectory that threatens to overwhelm our health care system, our frontline health workers, and your access to care. So it’s time to act,” said Sisolak, who recently contracted COVID-19.
The new restrictions reduce the capacity limits for high-risk areas including restaurants, bars, gyms, places of worship and casinos.
They will also be applied to public and private gatherings, which case investigators have identified as a major source of spread in Nevada. That includes on Thanksgiving, when home celebrations will be limited to no more than 10 people, from no more than two households.
Despite the restrictions, Sisolak said he had no intention of becoming “the mask police.”
Most businesses have operated at 50% since summer and the new restrictions reduce capacity limits to 25% or 50 people, whichever is less.
That means large venues that normally accept thousands can only accept 50 people, while smaller restaurants and bars that normally accommodate fewer than 200 people will only be allowed to accept 25% of their total capacity.
Sisolak took efforts not to frame the restrictions as any sort of shutdown and, instead, called them a “statewide pause.”
During the pause, Nevada will also tighten its mask mandate, requiring all gym-goers and people who attend private gatherings to wear masks at all times when not eating.
Sisolak said the new restrictions would tentatively be in effect for three weeks, at which time he planned to evaluate whether to tighten them further or relax them. Without improvement, he said Nevada could close restaurants for indoor dining, close gyms or implement further limits on gatherings.
Health officials reported 2,155 confirmed cases on Sunday, increasing the statewide total to 133,888 since the onset of the pandemic. They also reported six additional deaths, bringing the known death toll to 2,017.
In Nevada, 10% of all confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported in the last seven days and hospitals have filled to the point that one in Reno is setting up additional beds in an adjacent parking garage.
Sisolak said every decision put before him had potentially negative effects on the economy, trajectory of the virus and schools. And Nevada’s heavy reliance on the tourism and hospitality industry only compounded the difficulty, he said.
“Let’s be honest, our casinos, hotels, restaurants and bars are open with strict restrictions so that we can protect the economy,” he said.
With vaccines on the horizon, Sisolak said he hoped Nevada could get the surge under control to avoid further closures.
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“There is a light at the end of this tunnel, and we are getting closer. But we don’t have a vaccine yet,” he said.