Things had slowly been getting back to normal in America, and the Las Vegas recovery was pushing forward at a record pace! But then came the COVID Delta variant, and now the situation for Sin City has changed. Casino workers are now required to once again wear masks, but how will this affect travelers to Vegas? Are there more restrictions coming? Where do we go from here?
Hello players, and welcome to This Week in Gambling, where we are once again following stories out of Nevada related to Coronavirus. And that is this week’s big story. We’ve been watching the Las Vegas recovery from this pandemic, with casinos opening, restrictions being lifted, and record revenues rolling in. I guess something had to give!
The new COVID Delta variant has started popping up all over the place, and sin city is ground zero for a new wave of the virus. And while Las Vegas is still open… for now… some of the restrictions are also making a comeback. Las Vegas casino employees are now required once again to wear a face mask… even if they are fully vaccinated. And members of the Nevada Gaming Control Board are going to be out and about making sure this mandate is being enforced.
And it’s not just for casino employees, oh no. Anyone in Las Vegas working indoors and around the public, whether it’s in a store or a restaurant or a bar or whatever, is required to mask up. But what does this mean for you if you’re planning to visit Las Vegas? Right now, as I film this in late July, it doesn’t mean anything. Tourists visiting Las Vegas are not required to wear a mask. Nor are there any social distancing or capacity limits currently in place. But we all know that could change at any time, so be sure to call ahead before you make your reservations.
Despite this setback, however, many industry experts still believe that a full Las Vegas recovery will happen by the year 2023! And hey, that’s a full year sooner than they were predicting just a few months ago. So you see, it’s not all bad news this week.
And speaking of 2023, you know that big, blue building on the Las Vegas Strip that’s just been sitting there for the past 10 years doing nothing? You know, the one you always drive past it in the cab, and point at it and ask the driver, “Hey! What’s the story with that place?” Originally called the Fontainebleau, that project failed. It was then renamed as The Drew, but that project failed, too! Now it is moving forward, simply known as the Marriott Las Vegas, and it’s scheduled to open in October of 2023. So now you know the story! And the next time you’re in Vegas, you can explain it to your cab driver!
This week we do not have a game review to share… but we do have a brand new video to tell you about! Sort of like This Week in Gambling’s version of ‘Girls Gone Wild’! It’s our Streets of Sin City: Girls of Fremont Edition! A compilation of our most memorable encounters down at the Fremont Street Experience! Some of the clips were just a bit too much for our regular show, so this video is set to “Adults Only”, meaning you will have to log in to watch it. You can find our Girls of Fremont Edition, along with the entire Streets of Sin City series, on our YouTube channel.
Be sure to stay tunes to our weekly videos and subscribe to our newsletter for all Las Vegas recovery updates!