Capacity limits in Nevada casinos to remain until mid-January

In Nevada there has been a slight glimmer of hope that capacity limits at state casinos would be relaxed as November began to come to a close. As December and the Christmas holidays approached Nevada’s Governor Steve Sisolak has now shattered any hope, stating that until the middle of January, the 25% power will stay in place.

Sisolak announced that the COVID-19 pandemic is still taking its toll on the state and that the new restrictions will need to be continued for casinos and other public facilities. This means that many public facilities would be forced to manage traffic below 50 people or a quarter of their usual capacity, whichever is the lowest number.

The renewed order will remain in effect until 15 January, after which point Sisolak plans to re-evaluate the situation in order to assess the steps that need to be taken.

The governor may regard the restrictions as a gift to the casino business. Due to the economic losses that will be seen by the operators, as well as the state, he points to preferring them over a full lockout, but stops short of expressing any concern for the bottom lines of the operators.

Sisolak estimated that in just one month, a full shutdown would cost Nevada US$52 million in gaming revenue, adding that he is not too worried about how the restrictions affect stock prices of companies. He added that a shutdown would be catastrophic for the “hundreds of thousands” of casino workers that could be impacted and he is trying to find a happy balance to shield the state from COVID-19 while not putting a tremendous strain on those employees.

Sometime this week the state is scheduled to begin collecting batches of the vaccine, with more following in the first two quarters of next year. However it could take a while to understand the efficacy of the COVID-19-stopping drug, and Nevada will continue to struggle in the meantime.

Source: GMB / Inkedin