Las Vegas casinos fully open now without mandated restrictions
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Las Vegas fully reopened its casinos, hotel resorts and restaurants at midnight on Tuesday, June 1, when the final Covid-related restrictions were allowed to expire, including capacity limits, social distancing and other limitations.
Previously, casinos with 80 percent of staff vaccinated, could operate at 100 percent capacity, but several venues didn’t meet that threshold. With all businesses back now, The Fremont Street Experience hosted what they are calling “Downtown Rocks Again!”
Many visitors gathered downtown at the Fremont Street Experience for live music to celebrate the full re-opening at midnight. Three music stages were set up and offered live tunes from a variety of bands. The Viva Vision Canopy screens also ran a countdown clock, counting down to midnight. A recorded message by Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman was shown and Fremont Experience officials were in attendance. Headliners included Spandex Nation and Zowie Bowie, as reported by NewsNation.
With this full reopening, one of the biggest to happen thus far in the US, vaccinated people will not have to wear masks or practice social distancing. Restaurants and stores will most likely go back to regular hours, and there will be no capacity restrictions. However, many businesses are following state and federal guidelines which say people who are not fully vaccinated should continue to wear a mask.
With vaccinations driving down new Covid-19 infections, the city is betting big that people will play by the rules and wear masks and keep their distance if they are not vaccinated. After Monday night's opening celebration, casinos around town began taking down plexiglass dividers that kept patrons separated at slot machines and other gambling stations.
The vaccines, in any case, are providing a much-needed economic shot in the arm for the city that largely depends on tourism. The jobless rate in Las Vegas surged to 34% in April 2020, one of the worst rates in the country, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"It has been more difficult on Las Vegas than probably any city in the United States," said Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President Steve Hill, CNN reports. Hotels are at 80% occupancy on the weekends now, and about 50% on other days, Hill said. "We need meetings and conventions to come back to improve" that 50%, he said.
Next week, LVCVA will debut its almost $1 billion expansion of the city's convention center when it hosts the country's first major trade show since the pandemic began. With tens of thousands of people attending, it will be "the first what we call a citywide event to happen in the United States," Hill said.
The Venetian Resort has sold out its convention space for the last seven monthsof this year, according to CEO George Markantonis. "We have normal business that we would have pre-pandemic from midyear to the end of the year."
Virgin Hotels Las Vegas already opened its doors earlier this year and it says it continues to hire workers for its new property. JC Hospitality CEO Richard Bosworth told 13 Action News that his company is enjoying back guests at 100% capacity along with raising the bar on open positions in Las Vegas.
