{"id":164311,"date":"2021-02-11T20:05:28","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T04:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=164311"},"modified":"2021-02-12T10:57:23","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T18:57:23","slug":"nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada Gov. Sisolak Starts To Ease COVID-19 Limits on Casino Floors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nevada\u2019s gaming properties got some welcome coronavirus-related news Thursday from Gov. Steve Sisolak (D). He plans to gradually return gaming floor occupancy to 50 percent of capacity, given the improvement seen in the number of COVID-19 cases.<\/p>\n

\"The
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announcing his new COVID-19 plan. He expects to gradually ease capacity restrictions on casino floors. (Image: Zoom<\/em> via KTNV<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Under his tentative schedule, casino gaming floors as of Monday (Feb. 15) will be able to have up to 35 percent capacity. That happens to be Presidents’ Day, a federal holiday when many workers have the day off.<\/p>\n

On March 15, that number jumps to 50 percent. That is the limit that was in place before Sisolak announced his statewide \u201cpause<\/a>\u201d in November.<\/p>\n

For a couple of months, casino floors have been capped at 25 percent<\/a>. Showrooms were limited to 50 people in the audience or 25 percent of capacity, whichever number was lower.<\/p>\n

During his announcement on Thursday, Sisolak did not specifically mention changing limits for casino showrooms.<\/p>\n

But he did say limits on public gatherings starting Monday will be upped to 100 people or 35 percent capacity, whichever is less. Then, as of March 15, the number jumps to 250 people or 50 percent capacity, whichever number is lower.<\/p>\n

MGM Resorts Welcomes Sisolak\u2019s Announcement<\/h2>\n

The governor’s plan initially appears to be welcome news for casino operators, though they still have to read the fine print.<\/p>\n

We welcome today\u2019s announcement and couldn\u2019t be more excited about resuming entertainment, increasing occupancy, and working closely with state and local officials to bring back large-scale conventions,\u201d MGM Resorts International spokesman Brian Ahern told Casino.org<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWorld-class entertainment and conventions are key to Las Vegas\u2019 recovery, and we will continue prioritizing the health and safety of guests and employees as restrictions are loosened, amenities are expanded, and Las Vegas and the economy bounce back,\u201d he said.\u00a0Ahern added that MGM will \u201ccarefully review the new regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as restaurants, indoor dining will be at 35 percent capacity as of Monday under Sisolak\u2019s plan. Guests will not be required to make reservations under the COVID-19 policy. The maximum number of people per table will go from four to six.<\/p>\n

As of May 1, decisions about COVID-19 restrictions mostly will be left to local communities under the governor\u2019s current scenario. In the case of gaming properties, local leaders will work with the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission to set guidelines.<\/p>\n

Relaxing of Casino Restrictions Is Necessary<\/h2>\n

When asked about the governor\u2019s announcement, the Rev. Richard McGowan, a Boston College finance professor who closely follows gambling trends, said it seems \u201clike a wise step. The infection rates seem to be going down \u2026 especially in California, so it is time to start to let go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Especially, for the brick-and-mortar casinos, \u201cIt is the only way they will survive,\u201d McGowan said. For example, \u201cThe debt that MGM is carrying will sink that firm if they cannot start to fill the casinos.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looking ahead, there could be some mergers among casinos and casino companies \u201cin order to stay solvent,\u201d McGowan added.<\/p>\n

Anthony Cabot, Distinguished Fellow of Gaming Law at UNLV\u2019s Boyd School of Law, further predicted that the \u201crelaxing of state restrictions is inevitable, as the economic impact on the state\u2019s major industry has been horrific.<\/p>\n

“The new standards, however, need to be balanced with the efforts to increase the vaccine availability to frontline hospitality and casino workers,\u201d Cabot added. \u201cThe state of Nevada cannot control the positivity rate of \u2026 casino patrons, but can contribute to the health and welfare of those who serve them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On Thursday, Sisolak did reaffirm that frontline hospitality workers will be prioritized for getting a COVID-19 vaccine.<\/p>\n

So far, Nevada has administered about 390,000 doses of the vaccine. These include both first and second doses.<\/p>\n

The governor also noted how the COVID-19 positivity rate was 21.7 percent at one point last month. Recently, it has been at about 14.3 percent.<\/p>\n

The average number of new cases per day over the last 14 days is under 700, he added. In December, the number of daily cases was as high as over 2,700.<\/p>\n

But Sisolak also recognizes that unemployment levels are \u201ctoo high,\u201d and some businesses are \u201changing on by a thread.\u201d Las Vegas Strip<\/a> casinos reported gross gaming revenue of $3.73 billion in 2020, their lowest haul since 1999.<\/p>\n

He also wants business travel to Nevada to make a \u201ccomeback,\u201d and he wants the state to \u201crelaunch our convention business.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been a \u201cbalancing act\u201d in developing health policies during the pandemic, Sisolak said. For example, some people want no capacity limits. Others, want strict capacity limits.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to get through this together,\u201d the governor added. \u201cI want to return to the Nevada we know and we love.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nevada\u2019s gaming properties got some welcome coronavirus-related news Thursday from Gov. Steve Sisolak (D). He plans to gradually return gaming floor occupancy to 50 percent of capacity, given the improvement seen in the number of COVID-19 cases. Under his tentative schedule, casino gaming floors as of Monday (Feb. 15) will be able to have up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":164313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNevada Gov. Sisolak Starts To Ease COVID-19 Limits on Casino Floors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nevada\u2019s casinos got welcome coronavirus-related news. Gov. Sisolak plans to gradually return gaming floor capacity to 50 percent.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nevada Gov. Sisolak Starts To Ease COVID-19 Limits on Casino Floors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nevada\u2019s casinos got welcome coronavirus-related news. Gov. Sisolak plans to gradually return gaming floor capacity to 50 percent.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-12T04:05:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-12T18:57:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sisolak33.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/\",\"name\":\"Nevada Gov. Sisolak Starts To Ease COVID-19 Limits on Casino Floors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sisolak33.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-12T04:05:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-12T18:57:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"Nevada\u2019s casinos got welcome coronavirus-related news. Gov. Sisolak plans to gradually return gaming floor capacity to 50 percent.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sisolak33.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sisolak33.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Regulation\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/regulation\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Nevada Gov. Sisolak Starts To Ease COVID-19 Limits on Casino Floors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\",\"name\":\"Ed Silverstein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Ed Silverstein\"},\"description\":\"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nevada Gov. Sisolak Starts To Ease COVID-19 Limits on Casino Floors","description":"Nevada\u2019s casinos got welcome coronavirus-related news. Gov. Sisolak plans to gradually return gaming floor capacity to 50 percent.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nevada Gov. Sisolak Starts To Ease COVID-19 Limits on Casino Floors","og_description":"Nevada\u2019s casinos got welcome coronavirus-related news. Gov. Sisolak plans to gradually return gaming floor capacity to 50 percent.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2021-02-12T04:05:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-12T18:57:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sisolak33.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed Silverstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgedsilv","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Silverstein","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/","name":"Nevada Gov. Sisolak Starts To Ease COVID-19 Limits on Casino Floors","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sisolak33.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-12T04:05:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-12T18:57:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e"},"description":"Nevada\u2019s casinos got welcome coronavirus-related news. Gov. Sisolak plans to gradually return gaming floor capacity to 50 percent.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sisolak33.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sisolak33.jpg","width":1200,"height":675},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/nevada-gov-sisolak-starts-to-ease-covid-19-limits-on-casino-floors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Regulation","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/regulation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Nevada Gov. Sisolak Starts To Ease COVID-19 Limits on Casino Floors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e","name":"Ed Silverstein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","caption":"Ed Silverstein"},"description":"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}