Las Vegas casino powerhouse Caesars Entertainment Corp. announced on Monday that it would keep its Las Vegas Strip resorts open and that these would work at limited capacity and would provide the required social distancing of guests amid the global coronavirus crisis.
Caesars operates ten properties on the Strip, including its flagship Caesars Palace resort. The company announced over the weekend that it has decided to suspend all ticketed entertainment across its facilities.
News that Caesars casinos would remain operational emerge shortly after rival companies MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts announced that they were closing their properties on the Strip in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
MGM’s resorts will remain closed for an unspecified period of time, while Wynn said that the closure of its Wynn Las Vegas and Encore properties would last at least two weeks.
A spokesperson for Caesars said on Monday that the company would keep its casino floors open, along with “select restaurants, bars, pools, and shopping centers.”
The company’s spokesperson added that for the outlets that would remain open, they “are following the recommendations from public health officials by limiting capacity and providing social distancing of guests in restaurants, bars, and gaming floors.”
Buffets Closed Companywide
Caesars said that certain outlets will be temporarily closed through at least April 9. The company has not provided a full list of the closures, but confirmed that it would suspend the operation of buffets across all of its properties.
Attractions such as the High Roller observation wheel at the LINQ and the Eiffel Tower Experience at Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino will remain open, but with “adjusted hours of operation.”
Caesars is not the only company to decide against completely closing its Las Vegas Strip properties in the face of the dangerous coronavirus. Las Vegas Sands, which operates the Venetian and the Palazzo in Las Vegas, said on Sunday that it would keep its properties operational and that it has upped its cleaning efforts and adopted new, even higher sanitation standards.
Legislatures and gaming regulators in a number of states, including New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Michigan, have now ordered the shutdown of casinos as part of wider efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19.
However, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and the state gaming regulator have so far stopped short of issuing such orders. The Governor said over the weekend that “gaming is the lifeblood of Nevada’s economy, and a source of financial support for so many of our citizens and their families.”
The state’s top official also pointed out that he strongly supports any casino property that makes the “difficult decision” to close in a bid to “protect the public health and safety of Nevadans and visitors.”
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States has more than doubled since Friday to cross the 4,000 mark this past night. The public has been urged to take drastic measures to help curb the spread of the dangerous virus that has turned into the worst health crisis the world has grappled with in many years.
Source: Caesars properties, other Las Vegas casinos remain open
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