Wynn’s two Strip resorts return to full occupancy after 88% of the workforce is vaccinated

May 4, 2021 11:31 AM
  • Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming Reports
May 4, 2021 11:31 AM
  • Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming Reports

Wynn Resorts two Strip casinos are the first Nevada gaming properties to return to 100% occupancy.

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In a statement late Monday, the company said it was granted permission by the Nevada Gaming Control Board to amend its occupancy and physical distancing requirements after 88% of the company’s employees had been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The gaming areas at both Wynn and Encore are permitted to run at 100% occupancy and plexiglass dividers will be removed from all table games and slot machines.

“Our employees and guests will continue to follow health and safety guidelines, including mask compliance, to ensure a safe and comfortable environment for all,” the company said in a brief statement sent to CDC Gaming Reports.

Wynn Resorts officials encouraged its staff to get vaccinated, saying that those who do not get inoculated are required to take a weekly COVID-19 test.

Casinos on the Strip and throughout Southern Nevada’s Clark County increased from 50% to 80% capacity on Saturday. Nevada gaming regulators have said casinos would go to 100% capacity once 60% of the eligible population has received its first COVID-19 vaccine.

Wynn, along with several other Las Vegas casino operators, took matters into their own hands, providing free COVID-19 vaccinations for employees, as part of the effort to inoculate frontline gaming workers.

Wynn set up an in-house clinic at Encore and others have been launched by MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands, Red Rock Resorts, Golden Entertainment, Boyd Gaming, and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Last week, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak visited MGM’s vaccine site at Mandalay Bay’s convention center to encourage frontline hospitality workers to get vaccinated.

“If you’re a hospitality worker who has not yet been vaccinated, I urge you to do so,” Sisolak said. “Do it for yourself and for your family. Do it for your community. For your own sake, do it for your job.”

Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.