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Coronavirus: Las Vegas Strip rules to end for vaccinated
Beginning June 1, the Las Vegas Strip and surroundings will fully reopen to vaccinated diners, dancers, shoppers and club-goers.
The Las Vegas Strip and surroundings will fully reopen to vaccinated diners, dancers, shoppers and club-goers beginning June 1. Clark County lawmakers on Tuesday followed CDC guidelines and dropped plans to tie business occupancy to coronavirus vaccination rates.
The unanimous vote came after public speakers expressed anger and frustration with pandemic restrictions — especially their effects on schoolchildren.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on Friday aligned state requirements with CDC recommendations issued a day earlier. The CDC says fully vaccinated people can stop social distancing and mask-wearing outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.
Most Las Vegas casinos have already returned to 100% occupancy and no social distancing under oversight of the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
As per a Bloomberg report, Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Las Vegas Sands Corp., two Nevada casino operators, will tell vaccinated guests they can stop wearing masks, following new guidance from state and federal regulators.
Wynn plans to begin delivering that message to customers Friday evening, trusting guests to take the appropriate precautions based on their personal vaccination status, according to a statement. Sands said that while it won’t ask vaccinated patrons to wear masks, it is still requiring staff to do so for now.
MGM Resorts International, the largest casino operator on the Las Vegas Strip, and Caesars Entertainment Inc., the largest in the U.S., also removed facial covering requirements for vaccinated guests.
The companies are among the first to amend their masking and social-distancing policies following the revised guidance Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency said vaccinated persons could stop wearing masks both indoors and out in almost all circumstances.
Late Thursday, Nevada updated its health directives, saying fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors. It also said companies aren’t prohibited from asking patrons about their vaccination status.
Earlier in the week, the Nevada Gaming Control Board began granting casinos the option to lift social-distancing requirements as well. Wynn, MGM and Caesars said they would remove capacity limits at their casinos.
Caesars rose 4.5% to $98.61 at the close in New York, while Wynn gained 3.5%. The others also advanced.
Wynn, with a staff vaccination rate of 91% in Las Vegas, said it was removing plexiglass dividers from all table games and slot machines.
MGM said it was still maintaining an 80% capacity limit and 3-foot social-distancing requirement off the casino floor, including at restaurants and pools.
(With AP and Bloomberg inputs)
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