Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak continued his reticence to announce a plan to reopen the state and the casino industry when he kicked the can down the road yet again, extending the stay-at-home order until May 15. While Sisolak outlined his “Roadmap to Recovery” plan, there were little specifics about the plan. After May 15, phase 1 will commence opening certain unspecified businesses will be permitted to open. When asked about reopening casinos, he said that would be determined by the state Gaming Control Board upon consultation with the industry.
Earlier in the week, the governor said casinos would not open until phase 3 or 4, but with the phases undefine, even the number of different phases the industry was confused as to the way forward. Some Las Vegas casinos are already taking reservations for May 15, but most with caveats those dates could change.
The GCB last week issued guidelines of how the casinos would be required to meet during any reopening process. First is a detailed plan that must be submitted at least seven days prior to reopening. Properties will be permitted to allow up to 50 percent occupancy rates and must keep track of the number of people. They must provide hand sanitizer and methods to clean to all employees. The report recommends that chairs be removed from in front of slot machines so that players do not sit next to one another. Social distancing must be maintained at slots and tables, with a limit of six players per craps table, four for roulette and poker and there for blackjack and mini-baccarat. Casinos must prevent groups from gathering, and nightclubs and dayclubs will remain closed until further notice. A maximum of 250 people per meeting or convention will be enforced until further notice.
Earlier last week, Nevada joined a coalition of five Western states seeking to work together on plans to reopen their economies without sacrificing the health and safety of their residents and visitors.
Sisolak said the partnership with California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado will help in “sharing critical information and best practices on how to mitigate the spread” of the Covid-19 virus.
“Millions of visitors from our fellow Western states travel to Nevada every year as a premier tourism destination, and this partnership will be vital to our immediate recovery and long-term economic comeback,” he said in a statement.
The group has announced a set of shared principles that include prioritizing health and safety and relying on medical science, not politics, to guide their decisions to modify stay-at-home orders.
“We need to see a decline in the rate of spread of the virus before large-scale reopening, and we will be working in coordination to identify the best metrics to guide this,” the agreement states.
Goals include protecting vulnerable populations in places like nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, ensuring hospitals are at adequate surge capacity for supplies and personal protective equipment, mitigating the virus’ impacts on marginalized communities and establishing expanded testing, contact tracing and isolation.
Sisolak is set this week to unveil a plan to gradually reopen Nevada’s economy, whose dominant gaming and tourism industries have been devastated by the pandemic.
A statewide directive in force since March closing all schools and non-essential businesses, including the state’s 435 casinos, was set to expire last Friday. However, Sisolak has indicated the order will be extended, though for how long was not known last week. He has said he will base his decision on key medical benchmarks that include a downward trajectory of new infections and hospitalizations over a 14-day period, maintenance of hospital capacity without crisis standards of care, a sustained ability to protect vulnerable populations and confirmed protective measures in places of business.
As of Friday, Nevada had 4,998 known infections and 243 deaths, most of them in the south of the state in and around Las Vegas. Washoe County, home to the casino markets of Reno and Lake Tahoe, reported 834 cases last week.
