Vaccinated Customers Allowed in Nevada Casinos Without Masks

Posted on: May 14, 2021, 03:00h. 

Last updated on: May 14, 2021, 04:33h.

Larry Henry Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Gaming Business, Legislation, Politics, Regulation.

Nevada resorts can allow fully vaccinated customers onto the casino floor without masks, according to state gaming regulators.

Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts, the Venetian, and the Cosmopolitan are among the first in the Las Vegas Valley to shed the mask requirement for fully vaccinated casino guests. Patrons who are not vaccinated are required to wear a mask.

Wynn Resorts operates the Wynn Las Vegas and adjacent Encore on the east side of the Las Vegas Strip, where the Desert Inn stood for decades.

MGM Resorts owns several major hotel-casinos in Las Vegas. Many are on the west side of the Strip, including the Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, and Mirage. The company also owns the MGM Grand on the east side of the resort corridor.

Wynn Resorts employees are required to wear a mask unless they can provide vaccine verification. MGM Resorts employees are required to wear a mask.

The Cosmopolitan is not requiring masks for fully vaccinated guests and employees. The resort towers over the older Jockey Club on the west side of the Strip.

The Venetian and adjacent Palazzo are on the east side of the Strip at the site of the now-demolished Sands Casino. Fully vaccinated customers are not required to wear masks, according to KSNV-TV. Employees are required to wear masks.

The Gaming Control Board said it is up to each property whether to check that a customer has been vaccinated. The board is not going to require or prohibit these checks.

In a statement, Wynn Resorts said it trusts guests “to take the appropriate precautions based on their personal vaccination status.”

The Gaming Control Board is following the directive from Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) on mask-wearing at indoor and outdoor gaming areas.

The governor’s directive is aligned with new mask-wearing guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC on Thursday announced that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask in most indoor and outdoor settings.

However, businesses have the authority to require employees and customers to wear masks.

‘No Way To Police It’

The issue of how to confirm whether a casino customer has been vaccinated became a topic of debate on social media sites late in the week.

On the KLAS-TV Instagram page, a user identified as “mrgoogs” wrote, “Basically the honor system. No way to police it.”

What’re y’all gonna do, ask people if they’ve been vaccinated? Private, personal medical information is nobody’s business,” wrote a user identified as “bullet_in_a_bonfire.”

A user identified as “tonilou7777” wrote, “So are they going to ask at all the entrances to see your paperwork, or are we going to get a V tattooed on our forehead?”

President Urges Caution

In addressing the new policy, President Joe Biden (D) said the government is “not going to go out and arrest people.”

However, he urged people to be cautious.

“If you haven’t been vaccinated, wear your mask for your own protection and the protection of the people who also have not been vaccinated yet,” he said.

Scott Gottlieb, former US Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said on CNBC Friday that mask guidelines are going to be relaxed in May, “given the fact that prevalence levels are declining.”

“At some point we are going to have to move past coronavirus and start living normally again,” he said.