Nevada’s governor stopped short of ordering casino customers to wear masks while on the gaming floors of the state’s re-booted resort industry but said Monday that property employees are encouraging all guests to put on the facial coverings.
Health and safety kit, including masks, provided by Bellagio in Las Vegas to casino guests
“For now, we’ll pursue this on a voluntary basis,” Governor Steve Sisolak said in a late afternoon news conference in Carson City. “The gaming companies are going out of their way to get customers to wear masks. Some are doing better than others.”
On Monday, Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairwoman Sandra Douglass Morgan told CDC Gaming that casino operators must provide masks to all guests and “should strongly encourage patrons to wear them.”
But she said the policy could change, especially if cases of COVID-19 increase in Nevada. Positive coronavirus tests have spiked upward recently in states bordering Nevada, including Arizona and Utah.
Sisolak warned Nevadans that the coronavirus “doesn’t recognize borders” and reiterated that the wearing of face masks, especially in a heavily populated location like a casino, is considered an essential deterrent to contracting COVID-19.
“I’m encouraging people to voluntarily wear masks,” Sisolak said. “We’re not in a post-COVID era. We’re in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re right dead smack in the middle of it.”
Nevada’s casino industry reopened on June 4, and most operators are requiring employees to wear masks while at work but making their usage optional for casino customers.
Caesars Entertainment requires table game players to wear masks. However, anecdotal evidence has surfaced that mask-wearing by casino customers has to this point been minimal.
Morgan said Monday that the policy could change.
“These policies were created and implemented based on guidance and feedback from medical professionals and from the state’s testing data, testing capacity, and contact tracing,” Morgan said in a text message. “If that data changes and our percentage of positive cases increase, I would consider additional measures to ensure our health care system is not overburdened.”
Sandra Douglass Morgan, Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairwoman
(Connie Palen/UNLV Creative Services)
Sisolak, who credited Morgan for her efforts in steering the reopening of casinos, said there has been an uptick in Nevada’s seven-day average percentage of positive results. Also, there has been a “consistent increase in confirmed hospitalizations” since June 5.
“The Nevada Hospital Association indicates we are still in a plateau range of between 372 and 340 confirmed and suspected cases (of COVID-19) in hospitals,” Sisolak said.
The governor noted that Friday marked two weeks since the state began Phase 2 of its reopening plan, and Thursday will mark two weeks since casinos reopened following a 78-day closure. However, less than half the Strip resorts reopened initially under the social distancing conditions and restrictions implemented by the Control Board, which includes a 50% limit on capacity, a reduced number of slot machines, and fewer seats at gaming tables.
Several properties on the Strip are planning to reopen throughout the rest of June.
https://twitter.com/CDCNewswire/status/1272700484084658177
“We were able to enter Phases 1 & 2 because Nevadans were staying home as much as possible, generally wearing face coverings, washing hands frequently & maintaining 6 feet of social distancing,” Sisolak said. “Now is the time to double down on them. We can only stay open if we stay safe.”
Sisolak said Nevada’s increased contact tracing procedures will allow the state to determine the potential sources and locations of any new, large outbreaks of COVID-19.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
