Nevada drops mask mandate; some casinos no longer require masks
The good news keeps rolling for Las Vegas.
A day after Nevada’s biggest casinos were cleared to return to 100% capacity and get rid of social distancing, the state says fully vaccinated people no longer have to wear a mask in most indoor and outdoor settings. This policy, effective immediately, follows the CDC’s relaxing of indoor mask-wearing guidelines for anyone who is fully vaccinated.
Already, some of the biggest casinos on the Vegas Strip have announced they will no longer require guests or employees to wear masks on their properties. The Nevada Gaming Control Board has not directed casinos to require proof of vaccinations for anyone removing their masks indoors. At the same time, the Board has not prohibited casinos from asking for this information from guests if individual casinos wish to do so.
Wynn Las Vegas issued a statement Thursday declaring masks are no longer required for fully vaccinated people at its two resorts. As of this writing, the Vegas Strip casinos where guests and workers who are fully vaccinated no longer have to wear masks are:
- Wynn Las Vegas
- Encore
- The Cosmopolitan
- Caesars
MGM Resorts released a different policy, stating that fully vaccinated guests are exempt from mask-wearing both indoors and outdoors but employees are not.
Don’t throw away your masks just yet, however. Remember, you still have to wear a mask on airplanes and any form of public transportation in the U.S. through at least September 13. Also, businesses in Nevada are free to still require masks on their premises. Some Vegas-area restaurants and store operators say they will continue to keep mask-wearing mandates in place for customers and employees for the time being. Given that Nevada does not require private businesses to confirm a person’s vaccination status, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce actually recommends local businesses continue to enforce mask-wearing.
“Not every employee or customer may be vaccinated, so we urge businesses to play it safe by continuing to require mask-wearing,” chamber President and CEO Mary Beth Sewald said in a statement.
Featured image by: Daniel Slim /Getty Images
Mike Avila is an Emmy Award-winning TV producer who has worked for NBC, CBS, ABC, to name just a few. He recently was host, writer and executive producer of the SYFY ORIGINALs documentary, "So Much Damage: How Image Comics Changed The World."
