People play blackjack at the reopening of the Bellagio hotel and casino Thursday, June 4, 2020, in Las Vegas. Casinos in Nevada were allowed to reopen on Thursday for the first time after temporary closures as a precaution against the coronavirus.
John Locher / AP
(Kimberly James) – The Las Vegas Strip is showing signs of life again.
Though slow and phased, businesses in Nevada are starting to come online again. In Phase 2, which started May 29, gym and fitness facilities reopened with strict sanitization protocols.
Restaurants were allowed to open at 50 percent capacity with social distancing. Salons, barbershops and other businesses that provide skin services such as facials, hair removal and tanning were allowed to open under an appointment-only service model. Piercing and tattoo facilities were allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity, and no body art or piercings can be done around the nose and mouth to allow all present to wear face masks. Water parks are also allowed to open at 50 percent capacity.
Casinos opened their doors on June 4. Not all properties have reopened and not all amenities are available yet.
Currently all casino employees are required to wear masks. Patrons are encouraged to wear masks and maintain proper social distance. Several other changes have come to the gaming floor, including a reduced number of seats at table games, temperature checks at entrances and an abundance of hand sanitizer.
All these changes and regulations did not keep the public from coming out to gamble.
“We’re pleased with the first week,” Dawn Christensen, vice president of Communications & Corporate Responsibility at Nevada Resort Association, told The Center Square. “We believed there was pent-up demand, and it was good to see such a positive response. Some of our members are opening more properties and amenities given the demand, which is a great sign.”
Christensen said as people’s confidence increases, they expect the number of gamblers returning to casinos will increase too.
“This is the first step towards Nevada’s recovery, and the resort industry is doing all it can to help Nevada’s tourism-based economy recover as soon as possible and get people back to work,” she said. “We are optimistic that as people feel more confident in traveling and airline service returns, we’ll see visitation continue to build.”
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