Coronavirus / COVID-19 Information

Sonya · May 4, 2020

The Real Reason to Wear a Mask
Much of the confusion around masks stems from the conflation of two very different uses.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/dont-wear-mask-yourself/610336/

If you feel confused about whether people should wear masks and why and what kind, you’re not alone. COVID-19 is a novel disease and we’re learning new things about it every day. However, much of the confusion around masks stems from the conflation of two very different functions of masks.

Masks can be worn to protect the wearer from getting infected or masks can be worn to protect others from being infected by the wearer. Protecting the wearer is difficult: It requires medical-grade respirator masks, a proper fit, and careful putting on and taking off. But masks can also be worn to prevent transmission to others, and this is their most important use for society. If we lower the likelihood of one person’s infecting another, the impact is exponential, so even a small reduction in those odds results in a huge decrease in deaths. Luckily, blocking transmission outward at the source is much easier. It can be accomplished with something as simple as a cloth mask.
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The good news is that preventing transmission to others through egress is relatively easy. It’s like stopping gushing water from a hose right at the source, by turning off the faucet, compared with the difficulty of trying to catch all the drops of water after we’ve pointed the hose up and they’ve flown everywhere. Research shows that even a cotton mask dramatically reduces the number of virus particles emitted from our mouths—by as much as 99 percent. This reduction provides two huge benefits. Fewer virus particles mean that people have a better chance of avoiding infection, and if they are infected, the lower viral-exposure load may give them a better chance of contracting only a mild illness.
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To better understand what level of mask-wearing we need in the population to get this pandemic under control, we assembled a transdisciplinary team of 19 experts and looked at a range of mathematical models and other research to learn what would happen if most people wore a mask in public. We wrote and submitted an academic paper as well as a layperson’s summary. Every infectious disease has a reproduction rate, called R. When it’s 1.0, that means the average infected person infects one other person. The 1918 pandemic flu had an R of 1.8—so one infected person infected, on average, almost two others. COVID-19’s rate, in the absence of measures such as social distancing and masks, is at least 2.4. A disease dies out if its R falls under 1.0. The lower the number, the faster it dies out.

The effectiveness of mask-wearing depends on three things: the basic reproduction number, R0, of the virus in a community; masks’ efficacy at blocking transmission; and the percentage of people wearing masks. The blue area of the graph below indicates an R0 below 1.0, the magic number needed to make the disease die out.
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Models show that if 80 percent of people wear masks that are 60 percent effective, easily achievable with cloth, we can get to an effective R0 of less than one. That’s enough to halt the spread of the disease. Many countries already have more than 80 percent of their population wearing masks in public, including Hong Kong, where most stores deny entry to unmasked customers, and the more than 30 countries that legally require masks in public spaces, such as Israel, Singapore, and the Czech Republic. Mask use in combination with physical distancing is even more powerful.
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The community use of masks for source control is a “public good”: something we all contribute to that eventually benefits everyone—but only if almost everyone contributes, which can be a challenge to persuade people to do.
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We know a vaccine may take years, and in the meantime, we will need to find ways to make our societies function as safely as possible. Our governments can and should do much—make tests widely available, fund research, ensure medical workers have everything they need. But ordinary people are not helpless; in fact, we have more power than we realize. Along with keeping our distance whenever possible and maintaining good hygiene, all of us wearing just a cloth mask could help stop this pandemic in its tracks.
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This op-ed from Libertarian David Colborne presents another point of view.

Nevada is not reopening, ready or not
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/nevada-is-not-reopening-ready-or-not

Understanding is a three-edged sword: Your side, their side, and the truth.

MOURNING CHANGE: IF YOU’RE FEELING DOWN ABOUT THE LOSS OF A LIFESTYLE, YOU’RE NOT ALONEThat particular Babylon 5 line came to my mind while watching Nevada’s pandemic response become increasingly politicized over the past week. Though Nevada certainly benefits from enjoying the attention of people from around the world, it rarely benefits from having our internal policy decisions dragged onto the national stage.
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That’s a problem because Nevada is in a world of trouble, and we really don’t need the interminable tidal pull of the nation’s Culture War distracting us right now. More than a sixth of all Americans are unemployed. Businesses are prohibiting their workers from traveling domestically, much less internationally. Burning Man is canceled. Even Insane Clown Posse, who famously asked how magnets worked, has called it a year.

If even the Juggalos are staying home, what hope is there for the rest of us?
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This raises a rather unfortunate point that a lot of critics of shelter-in-place orders refuse to acknowledge: People aren’t just staying home because their government is telling them to. Most people are staying home because they want to, or at least they’re afraid not to. They were staying home before the shelter-in-place orders and they’re likely to stay home after them. Every poll has been crystal clear on this point. You can broadly ask Americans, you can ask unemployed Americans, you can ask Nevadans, and the answer is the same: Not only do they think shelter-in-place programs are worth it, but there are nearly as many people that think the government’s shelter-in-place aren’t strong enough as there are those that think we need to reopen by the time you finish reading this op-ed.
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One option that’s frequently presented as an alternative is the so-called Swedish model, in which the government has a light touch and people are encouraged to voluntarily avoid large crowds or the elderly. The results, both medically and economically, have not been encouraging. Last week was Sweden’s deadliest week of the 21st century and Sweden’s economy has contracted more than the United States’. Closer to home, Iowa, home to many of the meat processing plants that closed because of the virus, attempted a similar approach; it now has more cases than Minnesota despite having about two million fewer people.

Another option that results in both a lower body count and less economic damage is the one employed by Taiwan and South Korea. Unlike the United States, they haven’t relied upon extensive shutdowns or shelter-in-place orders. Trouble is, their approach relies on voluntary mask wearing (something which many Americans actively resist), aggressive testing (which we’ve struggled with), and automated tracing, which relies upon a level of electronic surveillance that Americans are still fundamentally uncomfortable with.

So, if we’re not going to voluntarily wear masks (even though we should), if we’re not going to test everyone who thinks they may have COVID-19, and if we’re not going to track the movements of every infected person’s smartphone, then what are we going to do?

That’s the answer Gov. Sisolak’s team has been trying to find for months now. The reason he isn’t clearly communicating his team’s answer is because there isn’t one. It doesn’t exist. This problem is not solvable by him or any other governor. No matter how many times you add one and one, you’ll never get three, no matter how hard you try. If we’re either unwilling or unable to do the things that actually make the pandemic manageable, neither he nor anyone else can manage it. It’s as simple as that.
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That’s why the Roadmap to Pandemic Resilience, a multi-partisan recovery plan drafted by a group of experts in economics, public health, technology and ethics ... doesn’t start with protecting the likes of me, at least not directly. Instead, it starts with protecting essential workers and reducing infection rates among that population first. That’s a smart decision. Not only do service workers have a higher chance of getting infected, they also have a higher chance of spreading infection to others and for the same reason. It’s just a shame the Roadmap calls for at least five million tests nationwide per day by early June. The United States didn’t clear even three hundred thousand tests a day until May 1st. Otherwise we could actually follow it and protect those who need protecting most.
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By voluntarily wearing masks in public, we’re not just adopting a best practice that’s already saved lives throughout East Asia, we’re also signaling solidarity with those on the other side of our masks and letting them know that we’re doing what we can to reduce their chances of harm as well.
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We also need to recognize that there are a lot of business models that may have worked before the pandemic but are simply untenable under present circumstances. Restaurants, for example, are going to have to be able to stay profitable while being far less crowded. That, in a word, is probably impossible, even if we all get used to paying a lot more whenever we eat out. At the very least, a restaurant seating half as many people will have, at most, half as many wait staff as it used to. The remainder of its wait staff will have to work elsewhere, probably doing something else. That will require retraining and time.
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That’s why Nevada’s not going to reopen. A business that can’t profitably reopen won’t, whether it’s a casino, a restaurant, or one of its suppliers. A lot of doors that closed in March are staying closed.
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Wearing masks, meanwhile, is a lot like wearing pants — if someone pees on you while you’re wearing pants and they’re not, your legs will get wet, but if they’re wearing pants, too, they’ll only get their own legs wet. Also, property rights are still a thing. If a property owner doesn’t want someone with a fever on their property, they don’t have to do so. Get used to having your temperature taken, and just stay home if you’re not feeling well.
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With all of that recognized, we need to be realistic with ourselves, our businesses, and yes, even our governments. We’re not going back to normal, not after something like this. There’s a new normal on the horizon. It’s up to us, not the planners, to decide what it will look like. Let’s use that power responsibly.
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I thought this Las Vegas Weekly article had some words that might comfort some VMBers.

MOURNING CHANGE: IF YOU’RE FEELING DOWN ABOUT THE LOSS OF A LIFESTYLE, YOU’RE NOT ALONE
https://lasvegasweekly.com/news/2020/apr/30/mourning-change-if-youre-feeling-down-about-the-lo/

Two weeks in, I suddenly felt like my life was over. Maybe not over, but definitely ruined. I hadn’t lost my job. No one close to me was sick. And although my future was and remains uncertain, there is no immediate, visible jeopardy.

It took me some time to assess my feelings. I had to acknowledge that when the Strip shut down, a part of my identity was gone, and I can only hope it’s temporary. I loved my job as it existed pre-pandemic, but now Vegas entertainment is on hold. My day-to-day is very different, and I don’t have that excitement to use as motivation and inspiration. On top of that abrupt change, I can’t stop beating myself up about it, because I’m one of the lucky ones who still has a job. Stop complaining. Suck it up. Get busy.
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It’s been more than six weeks, and I’m still wrapping my head and heart around the fact that what I’m feeling is grief. Now I’m trying to figure out how to mourn what I’ve lost—a lifestyle, not a life—while moving ahead and putting it all in perspective.

“That’s a lot of different things to juggle, some seemingly contradictory things,” says John Nixon, UNLV assistant professor in residence and assistant director of clinical counseling services and outreach. “The reality is there is a range in terms of losses and perceived losses and the severity of them, including people who have permanently lost their jobs versus being furloughed or people whose jobs continue in a different way. There are a lot of people struggling with feelings of grief and loss here.”
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Defining one’s feelings is also important but not mandatory, Nixon says. “People are remarkably unique. Standard thinking is to identify what feelings are at work and work on them in overt ways, but I realize more and more that one size doesn’t fit all. Even if two people are having the same problem or labeling it that way, how they experience those symptoms is always unique. And it’s not like you can’t make progress unless you come to terms.”

But it is crucial to recognize that your feelings are important, he says, “even if it seems like a little thing. You may be thinking about larger issues and how other people might be suffering, but you have a right to your feelings.”
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Allegiant Airlines to provide masks, gloves and wipes to passengers
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/allegiant-air-to-provide-masks-gloves-and-wipes-to-passengers/

Beginning this week, Allegiant will provide personal health and safety kits to every passenger that boards their flights.

Kits include:

single-use face mask

pair of non-latex disposable gloves

cleaning wipes

Crew members will also be required to wear masks on board.
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Casino designers suggest resorts take an approach where ‘guests and staff feel safe’
https://www.cdcgamingreports.com/casinos-designers-suggest-resorts-take-an-approach-where-guests-and-staff-feel-safe/

Casino designers at JCJ Architecture have years of experience working with commercial and tribal gaming operators in creating resort properties that support customer interaction in multiple public areas.

Today, with social spacing in a COVID-19 world the new operating procedure, Bob Gdowski, JCJ’s principal director of hospitality design, said the Connecticut-based company is conducting different discussions with its clients.

“We’re having a tremendous amount of dialogue because everyone’s property is unique,” Gdowski said. “How to get properties back to the market where customers feel comfortable and safe is the starting point. To make guests and staff feel safe requires a two-pronged approach including both scientifically-proven measures as well as those that provide psychological comfort.”
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Some of the changes may require modifications to current designs. For example, valet parking operations may be eliminated, which would necessitate an expansion to self-parking areas.

Hotel lobbies may need to adapt in size because of social distancing requirements, which could eliminate seating areas. Casinos might consider setting aside certain gaming areas for guests who are more susceptible to infectious diseases, such as those patrons aged 65 and over.

“Creating an emotional connection (or) sense of place by embracing a guest with limited physical contact is a challenge,” Gdowski said. He suggested casinos look to engage guests in a current “touch-sensitive society” by appealing to other senses, such as sight, sound, smell, and taste.
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The designers believe many of the restaurants included in the initial wave of casino reopening efforts will offer more “grab-and-go” types of menu items for initial distancing and public safety.

“We’re going to see different trends in design,” Marencic said.
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While casinos will looking to adapt their current configurations – in Nevada, state gaming regulators are requiring fewer seats at table games and more space between slot machines – designers will need to adapt quickly to any unforeseen changes in the operational structure.

“Many properties have enormous footprints, with a tremendous amount of generosity built into them,” Gdowski said. “We are going to have to take back some of the generosity, and get smarter about how we use existing spaces, without compromising on the quality or quantity of experiences.”
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The trouble with tourists
Will sacrifices of Nevadans be for naught upon reopening?
https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2020/05/04/the-trouble-with-tourists/

Nevadans are unexpectedly good at staying home, which has helped limit the spread of COVID-19 in the state (112 new cases reported Sunday) and allowed Gov. Steve Sisolak to relax some restrictions on residents’ movements.

But with no mandated national strategy and governors ignoring federal benchmarks for reopening, will the fruits of our solitude be forsaken when casinos open and freewheeling tourists roll into town?
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On Friday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued minimum health and safety standards for casinos to achieve before reopening. On the same day, the World Health Organization reported 66,276 new cases of COVID-19 worldwide and 23,901 in the U.S.

Defensive measures such as thermal cameras, sanitized chips, increased distance between video poker machines and limiting players at table games may offer some protection, but will it be enough to thwart an outbreak?
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Or will Las Vegas, like Macau and some other destinations, end up turning to stringent measures such as travel quarantines?

Despite the potential to deter visitation, officials are not ruling it out.

“We’re not there yet but we may be there,” says Clark County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick, adding she doesn’t “want to take it off the table.”

“What’s the maximum you can demand and what will work?” asks Kirkpatrick. “We know so little about the virus.”
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Ministers in the United Kingdom are proposing a 14-day quarantine for tourists and returning residents, according to the Telegraph.

“Hoteliers and airlines already reeling from global shutdowns and a collapse in demand could be hammered by the decision, which is likely to discourage swathes of holidaymakers from going abroad and shut out millions of tourists who would otherwise come to Britain.”
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Is a travel quarantine realistic in Nevada? Or would the prospect dissuade too many potential visitors?

Dr. Trudy Larson, Dean of the School of Community Health Sciences of the University of Nevada, Reno, and a member of Sisolak’s Medical Advisory Team did not rule out the possibility.

“It’s too early to predict what might happen,” she said.

“Suffice it to say that the industry is putting together plans to maintain health for their customers and their employees,” she says. “It will be a delicate balance since transmission of the virus depends on population density and exposure time.”
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The Las Vegas Strip is densely populated (when it’s open), as are the planes that carry the majority of tourists to Southern Nevada, which provide plenty of opportunity for exposure to the virus.

Although airlines are beginning to mandate that passengers wear face coverings, the prospect of “flying the friendly skies” is as appealing today for most people as it was in the days following 9/11.

A survey by Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape Project reveals 57 percent of Americans surveyed would not get on a plane.
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Wall Street analysts predict Disney parks may remain in a deep slumber until 2021.

Casinos are Nevada’s equivalent of theme parks.

“I’m not sure what travelers’ comfort levels will be,” says Schwartz. “I think a lot depends on what happens: does the pandemic recede, or is there another wave of infections?”

“I think that there are three pieces to the puzzle: creating safe experiences for visitors to Las Vegas; having transportation options available that are seen as safe (and affordable); and people having the time and discretionary income to spend money on travel. Las Vegas resort operators control the first piece, but not the second two.”
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And I wanted to point out that the Nevada Independent has teamed up with WSOP to offer a charity tournament this weekend, May 10th.
https://www.wsop.com/promotions/nevada-independent/nv/

Join us for a tournament benefiting The Nevada Independent. Details are below:

Sunday, May 10 at 3pm

$150 buy-in with $125 going to the prizepool and $25 for donation

Rebuys are available for $75 where $50 goes to the prizepool and $25 for donation

A one-time add-on is available for a $50 donation

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If you're itching for a poker tournament, this is an opportunity to help out some local journalism.

Sonya · May 4, 2020

One more quick update. Palms is closed effective May 1st and laying off all employees.

Sonya · May 5, 2020

Washoe County is urging a socially distant Cinco de Mayo
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/washoe-county-officials-urge-socially-distant-cinco-de-mayo-celebrations-say-hospitalizations-not-declining-yet

Washoe County Health District officials are urging people to be cautious as they make Cinco de Mayo plans after Easter celebrations appeared to cause a spike of 48 new COVID-19 cases on Friday.

Washoe County District Health Officer Kevin Dick said on a press call with reporters on Monday that health district officials are taking a “wait and see” approach with the recent case spike but that there is a concern that those 48 individuals may have gone on to infect other people. He urged Cinco de Mayo revelers to “celebrate in a way that protects you, protects others, and keeps our community moving forward in response to this.”
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Dick said that he was, however, hopeful that there were only 11 new COVID-19 cases reported Monday. Still, he said that the number of hospitalizations in Washoe County — one of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s metrics for starting to reopen Nevada’s economy — isn’t yet declining.
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Though the situation appears to be improving, Dick continued to urge caution among residents.

“I think people may be becoming a little bit more relaxed and have lost some of the focus initial on how they’re protecting themselves and others,” Dick said. “I think it’s very very important that we continue to remind ourselves and emphasize the importance of those practices of us to be able to move forward and succeed in our response.”
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Jim Murren/COVID-19 Task Force Hope to Improve Testing in Nevada
https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-nevada/murren-hopes-to-see-30k-nevadans-tested-per-day-for-coronavirus-2020924/

Former MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren, head of the new public-private partnership, said the team has been working to “change the paradigm on how testing is conducted in Nevada” for the past few weeks.

By the end of this month, Murren hopes Nevada can test at least 30,000 people a day.
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For the last few weeks, we have been working to break down those bottlenecks and change the paradigm on how testing is conducted in Nevada.

The solution has to be to dramatically expand the in-state testing capacity to develop high-throughput labs — labs that don’t just cast 100 or 200 people a day in terms of its capacity, but can test up to 10,000 people a day. By the end of this month, we want to be able to say that we can test at least 30,000 people a day in our state.

I view testing as an economic imperative. We’re not going to be able to sustainably recover as an economy until we have adequate testing capacity in this state, because that’ll help lead to improved consumer confidence and business confidence, which are both vital to an economic recovery.
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When do you expect some sort of normalcy to return to Las Vegas, both for locals and travelers?

That’s a difficult question to answer. I think the key to any jurisdiction, specific to Nevada is having as much analytical data as we possibly can. And that comes back to the testing and contact tracing and community testing and retesting.

For my perspective, I’m viewing this crisis as best I can through both the health care lens as well as the economic lens. Too often with this discussion, it’s one or the other. I think we don’t have to choose. We shouldn’t have to choose.

Nevada has many disadvantages. But the advantages are, we’re a relatively small state. We have some very strong companies representing a vast portion of the economy of the state. They’re working collaboratively.

I think that we’re closer to coming out the other side in many jurisdictions, if we continue to be really disciplined and deliberate. And that over the next couple months, we’re going to see the monster bull growth in our economy.
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UNITE HERE (represents many casino unions) has released their plan for opening
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/union-wants-all-employees-tested-before-returning-to-casino-jobs-dont-want-to-be-rats-in-a-lab-for-coronavirus/

UNITE HERE which represents thousands of workers in the casino industry, including culinary union members, released its own guidelines for the reopening of the gaming industry.

The union held a news conference Tuesday morning to release protocols it wants casinos and hotels in Nevada and other states to follow prior to bringing employees back to work.
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D. Taylor, the international president of UNITE HERE said the plans released by some properties is not adequate to ensure the safety for employees and guests. He said there is concern some “bad actors” will not follow the rules when reopening and that could create a coronavirus “hotspot” that could be devastating to “our livelihood” and the public. He said people need to be in a safe environment.
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Union workers, including a worker from the Bellagio, expressed concern about safety.

“I am scared to touch dirty beds, towels, trash and infect my children,” said Gladis Blanco.

“It’s life and death,” said Geocondo Arguello-Kline, Culinary Union 226. “Painful, emotional, economical and we’ve been losing members and their families.”

The Culinary Union 226, which has 60,000 members in Las Vegas, reports it has lost 15 people between members and their families during the pandemic.
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UNITE HERE released a plan in a six-page document that calls for all returning employees to be tested for COVID-19, PPE for employees and guests, enhanced cleaning and social distancing as well as enforcement of the protocols.

Taylor said it is up to the state and Nevada Gaming Control Board to ensure that the protocols are being policed and enforced.
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You can find the document here - https://www.8newsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2020/05/20200502-UNITE-HERE-Gaming-Guidelines-Health-and-Sanitation-2.pdf

Here are some of the highlights:

General Health:

o Trained personnel should perform non-intrusive thermal screening on guests and employees upon entry into the facility. Any employee who exceeds 100.4⁰F (38⁰C) should be offered a second test no sooner than ten minutes after the first. Individuals with a temperature exceeding 100.4⁰F (38⁰C) should not be admitted to the facility, unless they present medical evidence (e.g. a doctor’s note) that such temperature is likely due to a non-communicable condition.
o Employees denied work due to an abnormal temperature reading should receive on-site, employer-paid testing for COVID-19, and should be placed on fully-paid leave until test results are available.
o Employees should not be required to congregate such that they are unable to maintain a six foot separation from each other. This may require staggering shifts and/or pre-shift meetings.
o Break areas, employee dining rooms, training areas, and locker rooms should be configured so that all workers can maintain a six foot separation and should be cleaned frequently. Where this is not possible, break times should be staggered as much as practicable.
o Only non-touch timeclocks should be used. Biometric data should be strictly secured and should not be used for any purpose other than to log the employee’s presence in the facility.
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Return to Business:

o All employees should be offered employer-paid tests to determine their current and past COVID-19 status. Tests should be provided with sufficient time for employees to receive results before they are scheduled to return to work. Employers should contract with third party organizations able to generate baseline statistics of past and present COVID-19 status across the workplace and should provide such statistics to employees and their bargaining representatives to the maximum extent permitted by law. Once an employee has been cleared to return to work by a health professional, the employer shall promptly return that employee to his/her previous position.
o All employees should receive health and sanitation training in paid re-opening orientations.
o If COVID-19 has been detected at any time during the preceding fourteen days in the state or province where the facility is located, no employee should be compelled to accept work. Any employee electing not to accept work should be considered to be on involuntary layoff. Employers should not challenge applications for unemployment benefits by employees subject to such involuntary layoff. Such employees should be permitted to return to work at any time according to regular scheduling practice.
o No employee should be disciplined or retaliated against for refusing work they believe poses a risk to themselves or others or for reporting work conditions that they believe may be unsafe.
o No employer shall issue attendance “points” or any form of demerits or discipline to any employee who calls out sick due to experiencing flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath), is subject to quarantine by the local health district or other governmental agency, is directed to self-quarantine by the employer or a healthcare professional, is diagnosed positive for COVID-19, or is absent due to their child’s COVID-19 related school closure.
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Personal Protective Equipment:

o Provide PPE at no cost to employees prior to each shift, and as equipment is soiled.
o For employees working in areas known to have been occupied by individuals under quarantine or isolation orders, or otherwise exhibiting symptoms associated with COVID-19, PPE should be provided so as to conform with CDC Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Healthcare Settings.
o For all other employees, the following PPE should be provided: surgical masks, disposable gloves, goggles or plexiglass barriers, disposable gowns and/or aprons, hair caps, biohazard disposal bags.
o Provide additional PPE necessary to ensure safe usage of all chemicals and equipment
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Guest Arrival and Departure:

o Guests should be asked to keep six foot separation from anyone who is not travelling with them.
o Guests should be offered surgical masks and asked to wear them while in public areas.
o Guests should not touch doors entering the facility. Doors should either be propped open, should open automatically, or should be opened by a doorperson.
o Shuttle buses should be thoroughly cleaned after each trip. Guests should not be allowed in the front passenger seat, and plexiglass barriers should be installed to protect drivers wherever practical. If any guest is found to be under quarantine or isolation orders, or to exhibit symptoms associated with COVID-19, the vehicle should be immediately cleaned in accordance with the CDC’s “Cleaning and Disinfection for Non-emergency Transport Vehicles” guidance.
o Lobby areas should be reorganized to permit orderly queuing so that guests maintain six foot separation. A service agent trained in security protocols should be appointed at all times to ensure compliance.
o Front desk counters should have plexiglass sneeze/cough guards installed.
o Contactless and cashless tipping systems for guest service providers (e.g. bellperson, valet, doorperson, guest room attendants, room service attendants etc.) should be provided.
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Housekeeping:

At least daily
o Cleaners should wash hands before entering and after leaving each guest room.
o Disposable paper towels and wipes should be used for cleaning.
o Vacuums should not be used.
o Linens should be changed daily and should be washed at high temperatures.
o Dirty linens and towels should be bagged. Wear disposable gloves when handling dirty laundry and discard after each use. Wash hands immediately after gloves are removed. Do not allow dirty linens to come into contact with clean ones.
o Separate carts should be used to carry clean supplies and to remove used ones. Carts should be clearly labeled “clean” or “dirty”. Carts should be sanitized between every shift. Guests should not be incentivized to forego daily housekeeping services.

After Checkout
o Guest rooms should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after checkout.
o Carpets should be steam cleaned at a minimum temperature of 160°F (71°C).
o An adequate supply of hand soap and hand sanitizer should be available in the guest room. If individual bars of soap are provided, all remnants must be thrown out upon checkout.
o All glassware and dishes should be removed from the room. Alternatively, disposable glassware, dishes and utensils should be provided in rooms

Guests reporting or showing signs of illness:
o Any guest reporting or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms should be presumed infectious.
o Staff should not enter self-isolation rooms until authorized.
o Housekeeping or room service items should be delivered outside guest room doors.
o Daily service should be provided by a specially trained team
o Guest’s trash should be collected from outside the guestroom door in a sturdy, leak resistant bag. It should be placed immediately in the hotel’s main disposal container.
o Once the individual(s) in self-isolation have left a room, the room should be sanitized by a specially trained team. The teams should complete a thorough cleaning of all hard surfaces with an approved disinfectant, launder all removable towels and linens, and steam clean items that cannot be laundered (plush chairs, drapes).
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Room Service:

o Food carts should not be delivered into guest rooms.
o “Clean” and “dirty” room service items should not be carried on the same cart.
o Room service items should not be collected from rooms occupied by isolating or quarantined guests, except by the specially-trained cleaning and sanitation team.
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Fitness Centers, Spas, & Pools:

o These services should remain closed until public health authorities provide direction that they may be operated safely.
o Upon opening, these operations should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized multiple times per day, as appropriate to customer volume.
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Gaming

o Casino supervisors and managers should ensure that guests do not congregate in groups and queue appropriately so that guests maintain six foot separation from each other and from employees, particularly at cage cashiers and in sports book and simulcast rooms.
o Protective barriers should be installed at all cages and cashier stations.
o Slot machines and table games should be turned off and/or reconfigured with the chairs removed to allow for six foot separation between guests.
o Slots, tables, and table game equipment (dice, chips, etc.) should be sanitized frequently.
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A VMBer has asked me to share this Yahoo Finance article:
The cost of reopening the economy, in lives
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-cost-of-reopening-the-economy-in-lives-201007725.html

Relaxing business closures and stay-at-home rules could cost 13,000 lives in Texas and 12,000 lives in Georgia by September 1. But it will also preserve $3.4 billion in statewide income in Texas, and $1.7 billion in Georgia. New York’s tougher restrictions will save 5,000 lives, but cost $2.4 billion in lost income.

These insights, from a new online tool built by the Rand research organization, highlight the agonizing tradeoffs governors and mayors face as they decide whether to let businesses reopen and risk a resurgence of the coronavirus that has shut down much of the world economy. The virus has infected more than 1.2 million Americans so far, and killed 68,000. President Trump has now raised his forecast death toll to as many as 90,000, and some estimates are higher.
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A simulation by the Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates 116,000 total coronavirus deaths by the end of June if tough restrictions remain in place—but 353,000 deaths if those restrictions are partially lifted. If fully lifted, with no further restrictions, deaths would spike to 895,000. That would save jobs, though.
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In every instance, looser restrictions improve the performance of the economy but also lead to more deaths. If New York loosened restrictions by two notches, there’d be more business activity and $2.4 billion in additional statewide income. But 5,000 more people would die. Texas and Georgia now have moderate restrictions in place, which the Rand model estimates will cause 25,000 additional deaths in the two states combined. But it will also generate an extra $5.1 billion in income, combined.
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When evaluating the impact of government policies that affect public health, analysts place a statistical value of about $10 million on each human life as a way of measuring the appropriate amount of risk a policy may cause or mitigate. By that standard, the payback from reopening is low, although governors are factoring in other things such as the political mood, hospital capacity and demands from businesses.
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Nobody is sure how quickly to reopen. The worst outcome would be a premature reopening of businesses that lead to a resurgence of the virus, more infections and deaths and the need to force another round of closures. Health care analyst Chris Meekins at financial firm Raymond James places the odds of containing the virus nationwide by the end of May at 30%, with a 45% likelihood of containing it by July 4. He sees a 25% chance that the virus is still going on strong by Labor Day, with 100 million infections in the United States, and more than 250,000 deaths.
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The biggest barrier to more thorough reopening is a lack of testing for the virus, which must be widespread and cheap. Without a vaccine, frequent testing is the only way to know if workers heading back to the job might be sick, and need to be sent home, to protect everybody else. Labs in the U.S. are now processing about 250,000 tests per day, a pace that has increased steadily. But experts say we need multiples of that to do enough screening to reopen businesses with confidence. The reopening experiments underway in Georgia and Texas might reveal who’s right.
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That's all I've got for today. I'm down in the dumps about this virus. The biggest heartache I'm feeling is the absence of people caring for their fellow man. We've got to remember that we're not isolating, distancing and wearing masks for giggles. We are trying to save lives here. Stay home if you can. If you can't, be smart and courteous. Wear your f**king mask! Stay 6' minimum away from other people. Don't crowd. Don't be rude. Show a little kindness as we're all suffering with our own particular struggles right now. Please remember that when you're interacting with people. A little kindness and thoughtfulness goes a LONG way. Please try to be a helper in this world and not a problem-creator. We're all in this mess together. And we can beat it if we stick together.

Sonya · May 5, 2020

Couple more updates for today.

Please remember, that per the Trump Administration's guidelines, as long as cases and hospitalizations are increasing, they can't move into the phases where casinos can open. Cases are still on the rise in Nevada.

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/coronavirus-live-blog-week-nine

Health officials in Humboldt County reported three new positive cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total number of reported cases in the rural county up to 53.

The new cases involved a female in her teens, a woman in her 20s and a man in his 20s, all of whom are isolating at home and had contact with a previously reported case.

Humboldt County Health Officer Charles Stringham said the majority of cases in the county came as a result of people not following the state’s stay-at-home order and continuing to gather in groups.
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“With warmer weather coming on, we truly are pleading with people to do what is right, to set a good example by saying no to gathering with family or friends who live outside the home,” he said in a press release. “We literally cannot overcome this virus, we cannot re-open business and we cannot return to normal as a community until every one of us choose to do the right things.”
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Airbnb warns against parties in Las Vegas
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/airbnb-warns-against-parties-in-las-vegas-amid-upcoming-celebrations-in-may/

As the month of May brings many moments worth celebrating, including graduations and Memorial Day festivities, Airbnb is reminding Las Vegans about its house rules on events and parties.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company has put in place a new policy banning parties and events in areas where current public health mandates prohibit large gatherings.

Bans on gatherings and mandates on social distancing are still in effect in Nevada. Airbnb’s new policy means it is “not allowing any type of party in Las Vegas until further notice,” according to the release.
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Clark County votes to extend liquor, hotel and gaming license requirements for 120 days
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/clark-county-votes-to-suspend-license-requirements-for-liquor-gaming-hotel-establishments-for-120-days/
The state reported 332 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday and recorded 32 deaths, with 14 of those from coroner’s reports the Mississippi State Health Department is just now counting. Mississippi has a total of 8,207 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 342 deaths.

In an unanimous vote, Clark County commissioners agreed to suspend requirements for privileged business licenses for 120 days to help businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. These businesses include liquor and gaming establishments, as well as resort hotels.

The commissioners approved the resolution during a meeting held Tuesday to help businesses reopen when the governor deems appropriate.

In order for liquor and gaming establishments and hotels to maintain their privileged business licenses, they have to meet a certain set of County code requirements; including a minimum number of rooms and maintaining certain amenities such as a 24-hour restaurant, swimming pool, etc.
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Sports Betting to Resume at South Point on their betting app
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/sports-betting-to-resume-at-south-point-casino-on-its-sports-app/

Some gamblers will soon be able to still get in on the betting action while self quarantining. Starting tomorrow, May 6, sports betting will return with the South Point Sports app.

Sign-ups for new customers and deposits for existing customers will be available daily from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the property’s valet entrance. Customers will be able to sign-up or make a deposit without leaving their car, to ensure safety and social distancing standards.

Fans will be able to place bets on upcoming sporting events, including UFC 249, NASCAR, and more.
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Mississippi Governor Reeves said he wanted to open casinos by Memorial Day, now he's not sure
https://www.sunherald.com/news/coronavirus/article242520976.html

Reeves had hoped to open casinos by May 25, but he and State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs have also acknowledged this week that the COVID-19 curve has not flattened.

The state reported 332 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday and recorded 32 deaths, with 14 of those from coroner’s reports the Mississippi State Health Department is just now counting. Mississippi has a total of 8,207 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 342 deaths.
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A reporter at the news conference mentioned that Memorial Day, the anticipated opening date for casinos, is only 18 days away and asked if reopening will happen then.

“It’s certainly possible,” Reeves said. “It is something that I am interested in looking into and doing.” But he said two days seems like an eternity in the face of the pandemic and 18 days away is a lifetime.
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He said gambling floors might look different when casinos do reopen:
▪ Card and table games might not reopen immediately, with the potential for multiple people gathered in one spot.
▪ Every other slot machine might be closed so gamblers can social distance.
Several things about casinos bother Reeves in terms of potential spread, he said. Casino activities are mostly indoors, bars could be packed and people from all over visit casinos.
“There’s a lot of different guidelines the regulators, the industry, my team and the health team are looking at if we reopen casinos, and we will,” Reeves said.
He said he plans to be methodical.
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Louisiana Casinos could open by Memorial Day, but players can expect a different experience
https://www.arklatexhomepage.com/news/louisiana-news/louisiana-casinos-could-reopen-by-memorial-day-players-can-expect-different-experience-inside/

In many parishes across the state, the number of COVID-19 cases has flattened.

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board says as long as that continues, it’s likely casinos could re-open in May.

“If the numbers continue to do what we hope they’re going to do and flatten out, perhaps by the end of the month,” Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Jones said.
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Jones says when casinos do re-open, however, it’s going to be a very different experience inside.

“It will be reduced capacity. We won’t be filling up these gaming floors with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people. It’ll probably be a percentage of what their authorized capacity is,” Jones said.

Some may appreciate the smaller crowds, but there will also be less interaction between players.

“Every other device will likely be disabled to provide for social distancing unless they put up something like a plexiglass barrier, some sort of panel between devices,” he added.
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This internal email from Westgate is making the rounds on social media. Enough that I believe it's legitimate

MGM has furloughed employees and they could face layoffs come August 31st.
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/mgm-resorts-international-employees-furloughed-due-to-covid-19-could-face-layoffs-come-aug-31/

The furloughs for thousands of MGM Resorts International employees may turn into layoffs by Aug. 31, according to a letter that was sent to employees Tuesday. The letter obtained by 8 News NOW was from the President and Acting CEO Bill Hornbuckle.

The letter said the temporary closure in March has made things very challenging for the company and industry.
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Here is the entire letter: https://www.8newsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2020/05/Bill-Hornbuckle-Letter_5.5.20.pdf

Dear MGM Resorts Colleagues,

The temporary closure in March of our U.S. properties and the painful decision to furlough thousands of colleagues has made this the most challenging period ever faced by our Company and industry. Since the pandemic began, we’ve had to make difficult decisions about how to use our resources in the best way possible for our employees. One of our priorities throughout this public health crisis is ensuring that our employees have continued access to health care, even if they’re not currently working.

That’s why, as the future remains uncertain, we’ve decided to extend our commitment to providing furloughed employees with health coverage. All furloughed employees enrolled in our MGM Resorts Health Plan will now receive continued benefits – with no employee contribution for the premiums – through August 31, 2020. In addition, we’re continuing to process grants for employee expenses like rent, mortgage payments, groceries and utilities through the Employee Emergency Grant Fund. The fund recently surpassed $13 million, thanks to contributions from Company leaders, partners and other supporters.

I know how difficult this period has been for so many of you and your families. Please know we are hard at work on plans to reopen our properties and bring back as many employees as possible. I am sending this letter today to provide an update on that process. We committed to being transparent with you throughout this pandemic, and that is what we will continue to do.

We are hopeful for a swift recovery and are working diligently on new health and safety protocols to provide a safe, trusted environment upon reopening. However, we are realistic in our understanding that domestic and international travel will remain limited for some time. We believe that demand for travel will be significantly decreased for the remainder of 2020 and could continue through the early part of next year.

When we first furloughed our employees, we hoped the spread of the virus could be contained or that an effective treatment would emerge quickly. We hoped that a significant portion of our operations would bounce back by the summer. However, that outlook has continued to evolve as COVID-19 cases spread throughout the world. Based on the current situation, we now believe that some of our colleagues may not return to work this year. And, given the continued uncertainty facing our industry, we simply don’t know just how many employees will return to work within the coming months. We are sending the attached legal notice to all our furloughed employees, so you can plan accordingly.

When our industry bounces back, we will welcome you with open arms. However, we understand you may find permanent employment elsewhere. We encourage you to do whatever is best for you and your families during this challenging time. Please know that this is a decision we have not taken lightly. I will continue to do all that I can to lead our company on the path forward so that we can welcome as many of you back as quickly as possible. I am confident that MGM Resorts will open its doors again soon, and I hope to see you there when we do.

Stay safe,
Bill Hornbuckle
Acting CEO and President
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That is a sobering letter.

Sonya · May 7, 2020

Governor Sisolak is doing a press conference later today to let Nevadans know when they can enter into Phase 1. "They" are saying it will be before the projected date of May 15th. Please remember, this is not a date for opening casinos, but when they can open parks, tennis/pickleball courts, golfing, and some retail establishments can open for curbside pickup. I will post an update when the conference is over.

Las Vegas startup creates self cleaning slot machine dividers.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/las-vegas-company-coronavirus-slot-machine-dividers

Las Vegas startup Smith Rosen Gaming Partitions, born during the coronavirus pandemic, is bringing self-cleaning slot machine dividers to casinos.

Smith Rosen Gaming Partitions CEO Jeff Smith told Fox Business’ Stuart Varney that the technology uses ultraviolet light to clean its surface while promoting proper social distancing.

“It actually maintains the integrity of how slot games should be,” Smith said. “It has a nice lighting feature as well, and at the same time it cleans the surface and gets rid of that bacteria and disinfects.”
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Smith said the product was specifically designed to be a long-term solution to a variety of problems.

“We came up with something that, really, it solved a lot of problems,” he said. “And it still maintained, again, the integrity and the pizzazz of what a Las Vegas casino floor should be about. And it keeps people safe."
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The article includes some mockups of what they would look like. I chose one to share here:

SNHD releases guidelines for reopening restaurants for dine in.
https://vegas.eater.com/2020/5/6/21249294/las-vegas-restaurants-reopen-dine-in-service-snhd-guidelines-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic

The Southern Nevada Health District released guidelines for restaurants to help them maintain a safe dining room for staff and diners. Restaurants that decide to reopen will look very different with face masks on staff, tables spread apart, and disposable menus.

For the time being, buffets and bar areas inside restaurants need to remain closed during the initial phase of reopening restaurants, according the the health department.
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While the health department recommends switching to disposable utensils, cups, and plates when possible, tableware can still be used as long as it’s disinfected, washed, rinsed, and sanitized before using again.

Tables and chairs should be cleaned between meals, and the waiting area, restrooms, and other areas frequently touched should be disinfected.

Diners should limit their groups to five people and make reservations in advance instead of walking in to maintain social distancing. Even markings on the floor will denote six feet of distance between customers waiting for takeout or for a table.

Menus may become disposable or replaced with menu boards placed throughout the restaurant. And customers won’t be able to grab self-service condiments and utensils.

The tables themselves, while spread apart, can’t be preset with napkins and utensils, and when a customer wants a refill, the health department recommends providing a new glass or leaving a bottle or pitcher at the table.
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You can read the full set of guidelines on Scribd here - https://www.scribd.com/document/460174629/SNHD-Reopening-Guidance-and-Checklist-for-Food-Establishments-Phase-1#from_embed?campaign=SkimbitLtd&ad_group=66960X1516589Xa5a3244a695c90b7c3d3967b4d803962&keyword=660149026&source=hp_affiliate&medium=affiliate

Nevada Independent has released it's latest edition of looking at the numbers. You can see them here:
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/coronavirus-contextualized-6th-edition-exploring-through-data-covid-19-in-nevada-and-beyond
Long story short, it appears that the number of positive tests is declining, as well as the number of hospitalizations. Both of these are benchmarks that need to be met before Nevada can reopen.

Health Official says data, not public pressure, will guide the decision to reopen
https://www.nevadacurrent.com/blog/health-official-data-not-public-pressure-will-guide-decision-to-reopen/

Nevada is in the grips of corona fatigue, a plague that could prove as fatal as COVID-19 itself.

Even before Gov. Steve Sisolak has designated a Phase One reopening date for the state, businesses are formulating guidelines and executing plans for the new normal.

Others, intent on exercising their First Amendment right to protest even in the midst of a pandemic, are pressuring lawmakers and calling for Sisolak’s ouster from office.

But the people who are monitoring the benchmarks that will eventually lead to reopening say they will not be swayed by the masses.

“The governor has taken a very strong evidence-based stand,” said Dr. Michael Johnson, Director of Community Health for the Southern Nevada Health District. “It’s an evidence-based informed decision, in my opinion, and not in response to protest or public opinion.”

Health officials say they are looking at a variety of indicators “holistically” rather than individually.

Those indicators include new cases as a percentage of tests, the number of deaths, hospital stability, and ventilators in use.
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Wynn Keeps Employees on the Payroll, Sees possible opening date for Memorial Day
https://www.cdcgamingreports.com/paying-it-forward-wynn-keeps-employees-on-the-payroll-ceo-sees-potential-lv-reopening-by-end-of-may/

CEO Matt Maddox doesn’t regret any of the choices, which began long before Wynn chose to voluntarily close its casinos in Las Vegas and Boston.

“We have invested heavily in our culture and we chose to pay our employees through the end of May,” Maddox said Wednesday during the company’s first-quarter conference call.

“I wanted our team members to have smiles on their faces underneath their masks when they came back to work,” Maddox added. “You can quickly disrupt a culture that takes years and years to build.”
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Shortly after the call concluded, Wynn announced that it had extended full pay and benefits to 15,000 employees in Las Vegas and Boston through May 31. The company said it will have spent $250 million in payroll for 75 days without an operating property.
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Maddox said on the conference call that he was hopeful the company could reopen portions of its two Strip resorts by the end of May, if the medical data concerning the containment of the COVID-19 coronavirus meets state guidelines.

“We anticipate as we get closer that there will be pent-up demand in the leisure segment (for traveling to Las Vegas), Maddox said, “We’re going to have an environment (and) I think a lot of people will want to participate in (a place) that is safe and fun.”

Maddox said the company is still determining an opening plan for Las Vegas, which would include both Wynn Las Vegas and Encore but with occupancy restrictions in the hotels, while large gathering areas and nightclubs remaining closed.
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I thought some might be interested in this Op-Ed, How to Socially Distance yourself from Misinformation
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/how-to-socially-distance-yourself-from-misinformation

As fast as the COVID-19 virus continues to spread, so does misinformation about this pandemic. Much of the misinformation we’ve been seeing during this crisis stems from social media, the lack of fact-checking and people who share information from less than reputable sources.

In such uncertain times, we’re more likely to seek out any information we can find to calm our fears or reinforce our own views. All too often, we come across news or advice that seems legitimate, but ends up doing more harm than good.
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Social media users who come across an article or piece of advice that appears to be credible often share that content because they believe they are being helpful in some way. What people often fail to realize is that their seemingly “helpful” share can jump-start the spread of misinformation. All it takes from that point is another person who sees that content and decides to share all or part of it with their friends and followers, igniting a domino effect.

Normally, such posts may involve home remedies that appear harmless (and while some remedies are harmless, no home remedy should be tested without credible support that verifies safety use). Others may involve celebrity gossip or personal opinions. But during a pandemic, bad information can be downright dangerous.
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For example, a recent trend that’s been spreading on social media is fake news about prevention and cures. While some of these suggestions may be harmless, others can be fatal.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in images and videos you see online, especially those intended to incite fear and content that can be taken out of context. Instead of quickly clicking and sharing what you see, take the time to research and confirm the information before sharing it.
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It’s up to us to be responsible citizens, to educate ourselves and to avoid sharing false and misleading information. With so much content out there, it’s more important than ever to seek out the most credible sources.

In addition to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), consider local resources such as Nevada Health Response, Immunize Nevada’s COVID-19 Brief, and the Southern Nevada Health District. These are all widely acknowledged and recommended sources for the latest and most accurate COVID-19 information.

The more knowledge we gain from such legitimate sources, the easier it becomes to identify misinformation.
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That's it for now. I'll update later when we know what the Governor says in his press conference at 3pm.

Sonya · May 7, 2020

I've got a few updates while the Governor finishes taking questions...

Circa Sports Introduces Curbside Betting at Golden Gate
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/circa-sports-introduce-curbside-sports-betting-services-at-golden-gate-hotel-casino/

Circa Sports is now offering curbside sports betting services at Golden Gate Hotel & Casino’s valet. Sports fans will be able to activate mobile wagering accounts, deposit app funds, and sign up for contests, including Circa Sports Million II and Circa Survivor, all from the safety of their own vehicle. After initial signups, customers have the option to fund remotely with Sightline.
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Currently, the Book is taking bets on the following sports:

UFC 249

Korean KBO Baseball

TaylorMade Skins Match

NASCAR

The Cactus Tour Golf

The Outlaw Golf Tour

South Korea K League

Belarusian Premier League

eSports events

major sports futures and more

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The Nevada Gaming Commission has approved safety guidelines for casino reopenings
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/gaming-commission-approves-safety-guidelines-for-casino-reopenings

The Nevada Gaming Commission has ratified a set of health and safety policies that casinos and other gaming licensees will have to follow when they reopen to the public from coronavirus-related closures that have lasted nearly two months so far.
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“These are examples and this is a fluid situation,” said Gaming Control Board Chairwoman Sandra Douglass Morgan. “And with respect to the larger operators, I fully trust and think they’re in the best position to determine what works on their particular property.”

She also noted that guidance such as occupancy restrictions could relax in the future if health metrics move in a positive direction.

State officials have not set a date for when casinos might reopen, although Gov. Steve Sisolak said last week that they won’t reopen at the beginning of “Phase 1” — a stage that is expected to start before May 15.
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Details of LV Raiders first games Leaking Online
https://www.8newsnow.com/sports/oakland-raiders/details-of-las-vegas-raiders-first-games-leaking-online

The NFL will release its schedule in a three-hour “made for TV” event tonight beginning at 5pm PT. Already various media outlets across the country are leaking some information. CBS Sports is keeping a running tally of games projected to played during the upcoming NFL season. Of course, this is all dependent on the season beginning as scheduled, September 10.

The projections have the Raiders playing at the Carolina Panthers Week One. Then the Raiders would return home for Week Two and play their first game at Allegiant Stadium against the New Orleans Saints. That would be a Monday Night Football game, September 21. Another source has the Raiders at home against the Broncos Sunday November. 15. The projections also have the season opener being Thursday September 10 with the Houston Texans playing at the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs.
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Sonya · May 7, 2020

Governor Sisolak is still taking questions, but I'll start posting anyway.

While he was speaking, a staffer was doing a running live-tweet thread on Twitter. If you want to see it, you can find it here.

In a nutshell...

Nevada will begin a Phase One opening, this Saturday, May 9, 2020.

He says that he's able to open up the state because they have met the benchmarks he outlined in his Roadmap to Recovery. He notes that the test positivity rate rate has decreased from 12.2% to 11.2%. (I would note that his own Roadmap to Recovery says "The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends no more than a 10% positivity rate before reopening.") He also cites that they have added millions of N95 masks and other PPE to their supply. Hospitals are out of danger of being overwhelmed. Nevada is also now able to test asymptomatic people for COVID-19, and hope to soon be able to test 4000 people per day. (So far they have tested about 50,000 out of 3 million people.)

He then goes into what Phase One will look like.

Restaurants: He still recommends curbside pickup or delivery. But restaurants can open for dine-in, if they meet strict distancing standards.

No more than 50% occupancy

Tables 6 feet apart.

Staff must wear masks.

Reservations only, no walk-ins.

People waiting, must wait outside.

Bars to remain closed in Phase One.

Casino Restaurants and Restaurants with gaming, must stay closed in Phase one

Barbershops/Salons can open.

Chairs must be 6 feet apart

Partitions are recommended

Appointments only

Only one customer per stylist

Stylists must wear masks

Retail can open, with limitations:

50% occupancy maximum

Curbside and Online orders recommended

Open air malls may open, but indoor malls are to remain closed

Indoor Malls can do curbside pickup

Auto Dealers can open, but need to comply with 50% occupancy limits and by appointment only

Marijuana dispensaries can do curbside pickup, but also can do in store sales once they have clearance from the Marijuana Enforcement Division

Face masks are recommended for all people out in public. Businesses are to require employees who come in contact with the public to wear masks.

He encourages people to continue to stay home as much as possible to prevent spikes in transmission. He says all vulnerable people should continue to quarantine.

Businesses that are NOT to open during Phase One:

Bars, nightclubs, taverns that do not currently or have a license to serve food

Gym and fitness facilities

Entertainment and recreation activities (bowling alleys, movie theaters, arcades)

Strip clubs and brothels

Spas, tanning salons, massage parlors, tattoo shops, piercing shops

Casinos

He says "If we want to stay open, it’s up to us to continue the aggressive social distancing measures that allowed us to progress to this point. We must have more patience, so we have fewer patients. And if we continue to stay safe, we can stay open."

He takes questions.

A reporter asks if casinos will be open by Memorial Day weekend, as some have said they are working towards. Sisolak says that we will begin to open gaming establishments at the appropriate time. He does not want to guess on a date and is leaving it up to the state gaming division.

Another reporter asked why he isn't requiring everyone wear masks. He notes violent protests over masks across the country. Notes how concerns he was for his wife's safety when armed protesters swarmed the Governor's Mansion last weekend. He adds that businesses can require their patrons wear masks. He says he would like everyone to wear masks.

Social gatherings are still limited to no more than 10 people. He also suggested that maybe we should not visit mom on Mother's Day. Says he loves his mom too much to have dinner with her on Sunday.

He also notes, "The beginning of the reopening of our economy is not the end of the coronavirus. It's still with us, as strong as ever. It will not go away until there is a vaccine."

He says that the earliest Nevada could transition to Phase two would be on or around May 30th. He says he will update as the date gets closer. Notes that a spike in hospitalizations or deaths could result in a return to previous restrictions.

Here is an LV Sun article on the press conference.

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2020/may/07/governor-moving-up-first-phase-of-business-reopeni/

Here is the Phase One Initial Guidance plan:
https://nvhealthresponse.nv.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Roadmap-to-Recovery-Phase-One-Initial-Guidance.pdf

Here is the graphic for which businesses are NOT opening for Phase One:

And that's all from the Governor about reopening Nevada for Phase One. No casinos yet, but it is possible they will be in Phase Two. We should get another update from the Governor about that before the end of the month.

Sonya · May 9, 2020

Here is the Nevada Independent write up of the Phase One announcement from the Governor:
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/sisolak-says-businesses-can-start-reopening-saturday-subject-to-capacity-limits-and-other-restrictions

Sisolak announced at a press conference in Carson City on Thursday that Nevada had “met our gateway benchmarks for starting our reopening,” including a declining percentage of people tested for COVID-19 turning up positive. He added that there has been a decreasing trend in coronavirus-related hospitalizations since April 21 and that the state has developed greater capacity for testing and to handle surges in hospitalizations.

Still, he said, “The beginning of our reopening of our economy is not the end of the coronavirus … the coronavirus is still with us as strong as ever.”

“I know people are anxious, I know people are eager, but patience will help us keep the number of our hospitalized patients to a minimum,” he said. “We know COVID-19 is here and if we open up more activity, cases will continue to rise, it will continue to increase, but it’s the measures that we put into place that are so important to making sure that our health care system has the capacity throughout.”
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Sisolak said his directive for Phase 1 will expire May 30, but he will give notice before that about whether the state is ready to enter Phase 2. The governor declined to name specific milestones for moving to the next phase, saying some metrics such as rates of positive tests may show a one-day spike but his concern is more about trends over time.

“I don’t have a specific metric to move into Phase 2,” he said. “It’ll depend on various variables and criteria that would happen, benchmarks along the way. And we’ll play it by ear.”

He said if there appear to be any problems stemming from the reopenings and officials can identify the activity that is driving the surge, some of the allowances will be rolled back. Sisolak also said that any additional easing of restrictions would have to wait until the state was ready to enter the Phase 2 period, and he didn’t plan to have a “Phase 1.5.”
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Casinos Not Among Businesses Opening Saturday:
https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2020/05/07/casinos-not-among-businesses-to-open-saturday/

All businesses that reopen Saturday must ensure staff members wear face coverings but the same is not required of the public.

“In an ideal world every person should wear a mask,” Sisolak said. ”There’s a minority of the population who feel it’s infringing on their right to freedom to force them to wear a mask. “
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Casinos, which provide the lion’s share of jobs and a substantial portion of tax revenue for the state, will remain closed at least for several more weeks.

Sisolak, who previously said casinos would not open in the beginning of Phase One of the state’s reopening, reiterated Thursday casinos will not open during that phase, but is leaving the date to Gaming Control Board chair Sandra Douglass Morgan.

“We rely so heavily on tourism, on our hospitality industry,” he said. “The only way that somebody is going to come here from another state and gamble is if they know we are the safest place to come to and that’s what we are trying to do with these restrictions.”

“Our actions will now determine what actions we can take in the future,” he said. “I mentioned previously we need two to three weeks” before determining “whether we’ll be ready to move into Phase Two sooner or if we won’t be able to open on May 30,” or have to roll back openings, he said.
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“I don’t have a specific metric for moving into Phase Two,” Sisolak said, adding he doesn’t “want to focus too much on statistics.”

“Right now the trajectory of our positives has gone to 11.2 (percent). If I see it go to 11.4 I’m OK. But if I see that go to 11.7, 11.9, 12.1, I’m not OK.”
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Megan Messerly sat down with Jim Murren to talk about the COVID Taskforce and his opinion about the future of Las Vegas
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/murren-details-30000-per-day-testing-goal-projects-las-vegas-will-see-a-quicker-recovery-than-most-other-places-in-the-u-s

“I believe that testing is a business imperative and needs to be viewed that way, not just as a public health response,” Murren said in an interview with The Nevada Independent on Thursday. “I’m fairly indifferent to where that capacity is housed, as long as it’s convenient and close to the Strip. But I believe that that’s a good goal to have.”

Murren outlined a future in which the county-run University Medical Center in Las Vegas is running 10,000 tests a day, Renown Regional Medical Center and the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory in Reno are running another 10,000 tests a day, and 10,000 more tests are run elsewhere in Southern Nevada, perhaps at UNLV or another university.
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But an increase in testing isn’t the only change on the horizon. Murren, the former CEO of MGM Resorts, believes the pandemic may usher in a wave of new technologies across gaming companies, including ones that would allow guests to use their smartphones as their hotel room key and digital wallet.

“My vision for that is — and I go back to the first crisis I dealt with when I was in Las Vegas, which, of course, was 9/11 — 9/11 didn’t keep people from flying, it just changed the way we flew. Many protocols were put into place that we never envisioned before that horrific day, and it was hard to adjust at first. It was an inconvenience, there was time where it was a little disorganized, and then over time we adapted to that,” Murren said. “I view the same thing here.”
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The former gaming executive isn’t sure how long it will take the Las Vegas Strip to return to normal; however he does think that Las Vegas will see a speedier recovery than Orlando or New York.

“I think the recovery is going to be quicker here than most any other place in the United States,” Murren said.
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In the article he talks a bit about what he sees for the future in Las Vegas:

A lot of people are thinking about when the casinos open, what is that going to look like, and as we start thinking about big events, what protocols are we going to need to have in place. You mentioned utilizing AI technology. What kinds of things are in the works, and what tools will we have in our tool belt as we think about reopening gaming and entertainment?

A few things on that. The gaming companies and the entertainment owner-operators, the AEGs, the Live Nations, the convention companies, such as Reed, our convention center itself with Steve Hill, they’re all developing and they’ve hired a tremendous number of subject matter experts and, again, this is a global crisis that requires global cooperation and solutions. I’m finding a tremendous amount of cooperation and sharing of information and transparency between the gaming operators and other segments of the Nevada business community, and that isn’t always the case. I’ve been in the gaming business for 22 years, it’s not always as transparent and cooperative as it is right now. I think that’s an important positive.

The second is it’s a highly regulated industry and the Gaming Control Board is the gold standard in the world for regulating the unrestricted license holders, and they’ve set out some very clear requirements of what to expect in terms of health-safety protocol plans that the licensees have to submit. Some of them have been made public, like Wynn disclosed their initial plan, though I’m sure every plan is being amended, adopted, modified and improved as the information unfolds. Most of what you’ve written on is actually transpiring in terms of what type of protocols will be put into place.

It’s not hard to understand how a resort like Bellagio can open with really safe, strong protocols, distancing machines, table separation, food and beverage modifications, or Wynn or the Venetian. That’s smart business. There’ll be some technology; there’ll be some incredible diligence around that. What’s interesting for people to think about is how does the stadium, an arena, a large concert sporting event, how does that work? How will that feel? What will have to happen? Those are the big questions that are being asked right now.

My vision for that is — and I go back to the first crisis I dealt with when I was in Las Vegas, which, of course, was 9/11 — 9/11 didn’t keep people from flying, it just changed the way we flew. Many protocols were put into place that we never envisioned before that horrific day, and it was hard to adjust at first. It was an inconvenience, there was time where it was a little disorganized, and then over time we adapted to that and then over time technology improved the experience, through companies like Clear or Global Entry.

I view the same thing here. This is a different security crisis. It’s a health security issue. I think there will be really an igniting of technological innovations that will dramatically increase the use of digital technologies for customer interaction. We’ve been talking about it for years. The technology is already there to use your smart device as your hotel room key, as your digital wallet, as your retail interface. It could also be used for any number of ticketing services, but it was only slowly being adopted before the pandemic because it’s money. It takes money to retool thousands of hotel rooms. It takes money to exchange the back of the house systems that talk to one another, but it’s going to become more and more the norm and, ultimately, a positive for consumers as it becomes more and more frictionless. I think that these large scale events are going to pave the way for a lot of that happening.
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You’ve talked about how things changed after 9/11. Can you paint a picture of what you think the new normal for Las Vegas might look like — in the short term things are going to look different — but what kinds of things do you think are going to stick with us from the pandemic?

I’m extremely hopeful, and I’m very committed to learning the lessons of the present and the past. In this case, the lesson of the present is we need to invest, significantly invest, in public health in Nevada, and it has to be viewed differently than it has been viewed generally or in the state. This is not just a public health crisis. This is an economic crisis, and we have to invest in public health, whether it’s testing or other innovations to improve health outcomes as we would invest in a new restaurant or a stadium or any other building block to building our economy. It’s as, if not more, important. So number one, I recognize that as a young state we’ve had some shortcomings. We have centers of excellence, we have some outstanding men and women in the field of medicine. But we can do more and we need to do more. That’s number one.

Secondly, there’s two futures for Las Vegas. There’s the future that we’re in now, until there’s a vaccine and then there’s the future when there will be a vaccine. Between now and when we’re all vaccinated for this, we’re just going to have to respect one another, we’re going to have to act differently, we’re going to have to share the responsibility in health. That’s to the benefit of us all. I’m very confident in Las Vegas, in particular, because I know that we have a small number of companies that represent a vast majority of employees that are all thinking exactly the same way right now. I think that’s going to permeate very broadly through the valley. I think technology investments will be more robust than ever before, even if that means that money is going to be allocated differently than in the past, maybe we don’t renovate the next three restaurants, but we put that money into digital technology instead or into AI-backed solutions to improve logistics and customer interactions.

I believe that hospitality, entertainment, sports are essential to quality of life. I believe that people will continue to crave, desire those experiences. But I think also that we’re going to have technology-based solutions around many of them, and that Las Vegas is going to open up in phases where you’ll have a dynamic of gaming-centric customers coming back into the resorts to enjoy what they like to enjoy. We’ll have sporting events and poker tournaments and other events most likely initially in a fanless environment, but will be a great way to get out safety protocols, testing, distancing, and of course show the world Las Vegas, to have a prizefight or a UFC card. Why couldn’t that happen in the next 30 days? I think that’s a potentially achievable goal.

As we learn more about antibody testing and getting that as broadly based as possible, we’ll also know more about what our level of safety is, and that’s going to get people out more. But there’s only one Las Vegas.

These are privileged licenses, which means lack of adherence to these regulations means no business. A brand new stadium, an almost brand new arena, a lot of interest in sports, and very dedicated people who love our community, those are all very encouraging signs that we will come back. I feel confident that the Strip is going to feel the way it did the way it did last year with all the events. But I hope people feel a little bit differently, and I hope that we made some permanent changes in health infrastructure in the state.
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How long do you think it will be for the Strip to feel the way it did?

It’s so hard. It’s just a total guess. My answer would be no better than anyone else’s. It boils down to the vaccine. When we have a broadly distributed vaccine not only for the United States but the key visiting countries of Europe, Asia, Latin America and Canada.

Do you think that means recovery will take longer here, because it’s not just about the recovery of the U.S. but of the global economy?

No, I think the recovery is going to be quicker here than most any other place in the United States. First of all, we have a huge drive-in business, half of our visitation. We have a very robust domestic fly-in business. The international business is bifurcated between the high-end business — which is going to come back very quickly, it always does, it’s come back very quickly after every crisis that we’ve had, and actually held up reasonably well during the Great Recession — and the group business. Now, the group business probably doesn’t come back as quickly, but Las Vegas is not as dependent on the international group business as it is domestic business and the high-end international business.

I like our outlook much better than, say, Florida or New York or some of our principal convention or hospitality competitors because of the ability to pivot very quickly and market very quickly as a value destination. I think it’s going to be very possible that we come back before the others.
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DefCon has been cancelled.
https://mashable.com/article/def-con-is-actually-canceled/

All it took was a pandemic, but the long-running joke finally became a reality: DEF CON is canceled.

The annual hacker conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, typically draws tens of thousands of attendees to talk shop, compare notes, and generally cause delightful mischief. One element of that mischief is the constant — and until now false — yearly claim that DEF CON is canceled. The coronavirus changed that, and the organization announced Friday that the in-person conference will not take place this year.

"The #DEFCONiscanceled meme has crossed over into real life, courtesy of #COVID19," read the announcement. "In early March we had hopes that things would be stable by August. That is no longer realistic."
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I'm also sure you saw the thread that Roy Horn, of Sigfried and Roy, has passed away, due to complications of COVID-19.
https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/index.php?threads/rip-magician-and-vegas-legend-roy-horn.173451/

Big thanks to @Texas Rock who shared this resource for tracking which local casinos are open/closed due to COVID-19

https://www.americangaming.org/research/covid-19-casino-tracker/

And one last article about why life during a pandemic seems so surreal
https://www.wired.com/story/why-life-during-a-pandemic-feels-so-surreal/

This is surreal, you said to yourself. Maybe over and over. You’ve heard your friends and family say it: just surreal. We in the media call it surreal all the time. Because it is surreal, “marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream,” so says Merriam-Webster.

But what does it mean in scientific terms? The study of the surreal isn’t exactly an official field in psychology—it’s more Dali’s paintings and Kafka’s writings and a feeling. But there are good psychological reasons you’re feeling the way you do right now.

“The surreal part, I think, comes when you're thrown into a situation that you've never been in before. It's extremely disorienting,” says child psychiatrist Fredrick Matzner, who studied the psychological shock of 9/11. “If you've ever gone into an art museum, and you walk into a room with a big abstract painting on the wall, and look at it and you can't tell what it is, you'll feel anxious. You'll feel uneasy.” But eventually you work it out: Ah, it’s a sailboat. The anxiety melts away. We humans, after all, are built to look for patterns, Matzner says, and resolving chaos into a pattern feels good.
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Right now, many of the patterns we know and love have been obliterated. We can’t go to happy hour, we can’t get toilet paper when we want it, we can’t plan our annual trip. “My wife actually said this to me just a couple of days ago: ‘It's like there's no future,’” says Matzner. What she meant was we can’t plan for the future, because in the age of the coronavirus, we don’t know what we’ll be doing in six months, or even tomorrow. We’re stuck in a new kind of everlasting present. “And so everything seems completely otherworldly,” Matzner says.

The upending of our normal lives also obliterated the routines, however mundane, that keep us levelheaded: getting up, putting on pants, making breakfast and coffee, commuting to work. “Research does show that when you take people away from the things that are familiar to them, it's surprisingly easy for people to lose track of themselves—their identity, the things that are important to them,” says Susan Clayton, a psychologist at the College of Wooster. “This is one thing that you see happening in cults. And that may sound like a stretch, but when people try and recruit other people into cults, one of the strategies is to take them away from what's normal.” When the recruits are no longer surrounded by their usual physical surroundings and social interactions, it's easier to convince them to adopt new practices and reconsider what’s important to them.

“Our routine is the scaffolding of life,” says Adrienne Heinz, a clinical research psychologist at the Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD. “It's how we organize information and our time. And without it, we can feel really lost.”
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It doesn’t help matters that in this aimless time we have no authoritative voices telling us what we should be doing to keep ourselves and our families safe. “Most of us have not faced a situation even remotely like this,” says Clayton. “So we have no previous experience that we can use to interpret it. We have no guidance about how we should be responding.”
...
Into this surreal vacuum of leadership have stepped governors and mayors across the US, delivering a patchwork response to the crisis: Some cities were ordered to shelter in place, others to just practice social distancing. Americans don’t know what to do, or when. If you develop a fever or a cough, do you call your general practitioner or go straight to the hospital? Should you wear a mask, or not? Do you need a test, and if so, where could you find one?

If we’d been through this kind of thing before, in the absence of cohesive guidance from the top maybe we could have calmly guided ourselves. But without clear advice for how to handle an unprecedented crisis, we feel helpless. “I think it conveys a sort of dreamlike quality,” says Clayton. “It doesn't feel real because we have no points of reference.”
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Psychologists say that to combat our aimlessness, we need continuity, and luckily that’s one of the few things you can easily create for yourself right now. Physical activity is critical, so you run like you’ve always run—just do it 6 feet away from others. Being social is critical too, so have drinks with friends over video chat (aka FaceTime and Wine). Do tele-yoga if your studio offers it, like the program that Portacolone tunes into.

“If we manage to keep some of our old habits, especially those that we like the most—in my case doing my yoga classes—then we are less disoriented,” she says. “So it's less surreal. I'm more grounded. The teachers tell us: Feel your feet, feel your feet, to cultivate a sense of groundedness of reality.”
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Sonya · May 10, 2020

I would like to start with some social media. Some of you keep trying to share/post about that letter circulating around Facebook that is supposedly a schedule of MGM Resorts properties to open into 2022. Several sources have called this a fake. I haven't found anyone with any knowledge saying it's real. Please stop spreading it.

LasVegasLocally shared a photo on Twitter of a picture that he says is of Aria's new carpet and slot floor arrangement.

He also posted about Wynn's new thermal camera system being set up at entrances at Wynn/Encore:

Governor Sisolak is on social media too. He has posted some industry specific guidelines for opening this weekend. He also has been trying to remind people that "As we begin to reopen in Nevada, it’s important to still take precautions against #COVID19. @NVHealthRespon1 has guidance posted for individuals and businesses."

You can find them here - https://nvhealthresponse.nv.gov/

From Howard Stutz, As Nevada Slowly Opens, Gaming Comeback Could Be A Long Road
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/as-nevada-slowly-reopens-gaming-comeback-could-be-a-long-road

Eliminating 276,300 gaming and tourism jobs in the weeks following the unprecedented shutdown of Nevada’s casino industry on March 18 was a painful process.

Now comes an even more challenging dilemma for casino operators — how many employees are brought back initially under COVID-19 health and safety guidelines established by Nevada gaming regulators last week? Also, how quickly does a property “ramp up” and increase staffing, and how long does this “new normal” last?
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Companies with multiple properties have said they will reopen just portions of certain resorts initially while other casinos will remain shuttered until business levels show a marked return.

For example, MGM Resorts International will open New York-New York and Bellagio, leaving 11 other Strip properties closed. Station Casinos will initially reopen the majority of its locals market, but keep four other properties, including the Palms, sidelined. Boyd Gaming said it would reopen its nine Las Vegas locals properties but is taking a wait and see approach on its three downtown Las Vegas casinos.
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Martinez, one of three human resources consultants with gaming industry experience who talked with The Nevada Independent about casino employment issues, said the phased-in reopening of the Strip and locals casino markets will result in at least a temporary reduction to the workforce that may later become permanent.

“Operators and suppliers are prioritizing the work areas to re-open initially and the positions needed for each phase thereafter,” said Martinez, who advises both gaming and non-gaming clients. “For example, security and safety, housekeeping, and custodial workers following new procedures may return at the same staffing levels or higher, whereas positions such as event planner or buffet greeter may be hired back in a later phase.”

Casino staffing levels may be dictated by some of the Gaming Control Board’s guidelines, such as occupancy restrictions that limit resorts to no more than 50 percent their maximum capacity, social distancing measures throughout the public areas, including restaurants, and increasing space between slot machines while reducing the number of seats at table games.

“Overall staffing will be hugely dependent on occupancy,” said Michelle DiTondo, a principal at Avion Consulting. “Operationally, it will take time for casinos to ramp up. You can’t bring back staffing levels all at once. And when you bring employees back, they want to feel safe. Managers and property leaders are thinking this through.”
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When casinos closed, Las Vegas research firm Applied Analysis – in a study for the Nevada Resort Association – said gaming and tourism directly employs 276,300 workers. However, when supporting positions are considered, gaming and tourism accounts for 450,000 jobs – one out of every three jobs in Nevada.

Applied Analysis said gaming and tourism supports $20 billion in wages and salaries annually, while generating $75 billion of yearly economic production, or roughly 45 percent of the state’s aggregate output.
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Employment in Nevada’s casino industry has been upended twice in the last two decades. The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 caused travel disruptions across the U.S. for nearly a year that slowed Las Vegas visitation. And the Great Recession that began in 2008 slowed the gaming business for several years.

But nothing can match the closure of every casino in Nevada – large and small – which sent nearly an entire industry workforce to the unemployment rolls while wondering whether jobs would still be there in the months ahead, as the pandemic lingers.

Martinez said the casino workforce has anxieties similar to the general public about going back into a casino.

“Employees are concerned about the safety measures, including personal protective equipment and training, that their company will implement to keep them healthy and safe from the virus,” Martinez said. “It will also depend on the economic situation of the employee and their personal comfort level with returning to work without a vaccine or proven treatments available at this time.”
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Virtuoso explained that “furlough” is an employment term that is generally defined as a temporary leave of absence without pay, primarily caused by “exigent circumstances.” COVID-19 fits the definition.

“Furloughed employees are not typically paid for time not worked but remain employed and maintain benefit eligibility subject to the terms of the employer’s benefit plans,” Virtuoso said. “Employees placed on furloughs may seek unemployment benefits.”

DiTondo said keeping employees on furlough status makes the rehiring process much easier and quicker to manage. Furloughs also reduce the need for lengthy background checks.

“You don’t have a long process. It’s just a matter of changing a person’s status,” she said.
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Casino operators took different approaches with their workforces.

Boyd Gaming, which operates 29 gaming properties in 10 states, paid employees through April 10 before furloughing most of its 25,000-person nationwide workforce.

Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts are the only casino companies that have kept their workforce on the payroll since the middle of March. Wynn executives said last week the company will have spent $250 million in payroll over 75 days for 15,000 workers without an operating property in Las Vegas or Boston.

“We have invested heavily in our culture,” CEO Matt Maddox said last week. “You can quickly disrupt a culture that takes years and years to build.”

Meanwhile, several companies took steps to lay off large portions of their workforce, most notably MGM Resorts. The company furloughed 63,000 employees across eight states last month. Last week, MGM acting CEO Bill Hornbuckle said the company would institute layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires employers to provide a minimum of 60-day notice prior to a mass layoff.

“Based on the current situation, we now believe that some of our colleagues may not return to work this year,” Hornbuckle wrote in a letter. “And, given the continued uncertainty facing our industry, we simply don’t know just how many employees will return to work within the coming months.”

In a separate statement, the company said, “While we’re hopeful that our industry’s recovery will be swift, we now believe that it may take some time for business to return to pre-pandemic levels. We’re committed to being as transparent with our employees as possible, so they can plan accordingly and do what is best for themselves and their families.”

Station Casinos, which had committed to paying its 14,000-person workforce through May 16, said on May 2 it would lay off 39 percent of the company’s full time employees – roughly 5,400 workers – on that day.

In a March 25 letter obtained by the Reno Gazette-Journal, Treasure Island, which is owned by billionaire Phil Ruffin, told the Nevada Department of Employment it had furloughed 2,225 employees and said the action might trigger a WARN Act notification. Treasure Island is accepting room reservations starting May 22, even though it’s unclear whether the property will be able to open.

Employment consultants say they won’t be surprised if other casino companies implement layoffs.

Virtuoso, who spent several years as an MGM human resources executive, said gaming companies have spent the last seven weeks analyzing bottom lines, cash flow projections, and the forecast for future customer spending and tourism habits. She called the numbers “staggering.”

Pending actions depend on when Gov. Steve Sisolak allows casinos to reopen.

“Many (casino) leaders were hopeful to be able to re-open and return employees mid-May and into early June; however, there was a halt on that plan, and it required them to quickly shift their business models and plans this last week, resulting in additional layoffs,” Virtuoso said.
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Virtuoso said it will be important for resort executives to communicate changing policies, procedures, and guidelines that have been newly implemented, especially any enhanced precautions such as temperature checks, gloves, masks, facial shields and additional safeguards throughout the properties.

“Although the environment may look different, customer service, hospitality, and service excellence are the lifeblood of Las Vegas and will be at the forefront of new procedures,” she said.
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Despite Getting the Green Light, Many Vegas Businesses in No Rush to Reopen
https://vegasinc.lasvegassun.com/business/2020/may/08/despite-green-light-vegas-business-no-rush-reopen/

Before Lotus of Siam reopens its popular Las Vegas eateries for business after the coronavirus shutdowns, there’s plenty of work to do.

First and foremost: Making sure the two area restaurants are disinfected up to federal standards and have social distancing measures in place to safely welcome patrons, manager Penny Chutima said.
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Under the guidelines, restaurants, which have been limited to carry-out and delivery, can open for dine-in service with restrictions, including operating at a maximum 50% capacity and tables spaced at least 6 feet apart.

Lotus of Siam is in the process of changing the table layouts, going from a 60-table spread at the Sahara Avenue location to 26 tables to follow reopening orders. Chutima is also coordinating with the developer of the restaurant’s app to establish a feature where patrons with reservations will be given notice when to leave their house.

“This is all brand new to everyone in the restaurant industry, and we are pinpointing the best way to approach it,” Chutima said.

Lotus of Siam, which is hoping to open May 20, will initially have a pared-down, one-page menu, front and back. The menu will be disinfected after being touched by each patron. The group has about 100 employees, all of whom Chutima says will have to pass a health and sanitation awareness test before returning to work.

Restaurant workers will all wear face masks, per Sisolak’s order. The practice was already in place at the back of the house where employees wear masks and gloves, Chutima said.
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“It’s more important to be safe than it is to hurry,” said Ben Sabouri, owner of Founders Coffee. “We aren’t a flash-in-the-pan type of place. We have been around for a while and we want to stay around for the long term. We want to be careful and thoughtful of our guests and employees.”
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“As an organization, we need to do it right because we only have one shot at this,” she said. “For us, it will be hard for our customer base because Southerners like to hug. We’re a hugging culture and that’s not something you can do right now.”

Sisolak stressed that this is “not going to be the end of coronavirus. It’s still there, and if you let your guard down it’ll hit you right in the face.”

Businesses that will remain closed include casinos, nightclubs, bars and taverns that don’t serve food, fitness centers, bowling alleys, indoor movie theaters, strip clubs and brothels. Indoor malls will also stay closed, although stores can offer curbside service.

“Social distancing is the best weapon we have against this disease,” Sisolak said. “We are not done with this fight. We cannot put our gloves down now.”
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Frequent Visitor Hopes Las Vegas will be as Fun as it Has Been
https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/business-columns/inside-gaming/frequent-visitor-hoping-las-vegas-will-be-as-fun-as-it-has-been-2024756/

Tony Iori typically visits Las Vegas multiple times a year, making him the prototype for the kind of visitor Las Vegas wants.

But while Iori, a vice president at Iori Insurance in Cincinnati, can’t wait to gamble, dine and go to concerts in Las Vegas, thousands more aren’t as sure. That’s why many worry “the return” is going to take longer than expected, and why some fear Las Vegas isn’t going to be the way it used to be.

“My wife and I went out there in January, it was my birthday,” Iori said. “We saw a couple shows, we stayed at Caesars. And then we were supposed to go out for the (National Football League) draft. When that got canceled, my wife and I decided to plan a trip in August. And then every year, my sons and I go out there for the first week of college football and go to The Mirage sportsbook and hang out and watch football. It’s great.”
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Experts know a lot more now than they did when the coronavirus put a chokehold on Las Vegas in March, but they still don’t know enough to be confident about what’s ahead.

When will the casinos open? Unknown. How long will capacity restrictions at casinos be in place? Unknown. When will showrooms be back to normal? Unknown. Will special events and NFL games at Allegiant Stadium be affected? Unknown.

The Nevada Gaming Commission approved casino reopening guidelines last week, but those spurred almost as many questions as answers. Public reaction shows that not everybody is on the same page about operations once casinos do reopen. The Gaming Control Board’s guidelines are silent on some operational matters, but federal, state and local health recommendations are in place and regulators say gaming companies are required to abide by them.
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Casino staff members will be required to wear masks, but it’s only suggested that guests wear them. (I suspect some resorts will require that of their guests.)

If Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommend that the largest gatherings be limited to 250 people, what becomes of the city’s convention industry? And how long will that last?
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Iori said part of the fun of Las Vegas casinos is mixing with fellow players.

“You like to talk to each other, high-five each other,” he said. “If it takes away from the fun and excitement, that’s what Vegas is all about.”

Iori said he’d be willing to wear a mask while flying across the country to Las Vegas — he doesn’t have much choice on that.

He also said he’d be willing to pay for drinks instead of getting them complementary if that helps stabilize casino finances and allows servers to keep their jobs.

“You have to appreciate the people dealing,” he said. “How are they feeling about this? If that’s what they want and that’s the way it’s going to be for the first couple of months, then that’s the way it has to be until we get a vaccine.”
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While the return of Las Vegas may not take the form of a massive reopening celebration as suggested early on, it’s sure to come back eventually.

All we need is a few more Tony Ioris.
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South Korea, Hailed for Pandemic Response, Backtracks on Reopening After COVID-19 Cases Jump
https://www.newsweek.com/south-korea-hailed-pandemic-response-backtracks-reopening-after-covid-19-cases-jump-1502864

Despite recently reopening businesses amid an impressive decline in new coronavirus case, the South Korean government has issued a nationwide health advisory for bars and nightclubs to close down for 30 more days after health officials tracked 13 new cases to a single person who attended five nightclubs and bars in the country's capital city of Seoul.

"We believe we will have another community infection," said Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip at a Friday press briefing. "The spread took place in enclosed and crowded spaces. Transmission with no known source of infection can lead to a widespread cluster infection and that is why the government is not letting its guard down."

The man in question had no symptoms when he visited the nightspots. He eventually tested positive on Wednesday and gained admittance to a hospital in Suwon, a city south of Seoul, according to the UPI wire service.

Officials think he may have come in contact with over 1,500 people during his night out. City officials are now using CCTV and credit card records to help identify visitors and are encouraging them to self-isolate and immediately report any coronavirus symptoms to local hospitals.
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Within the first two weeks of March, new daily cases in South Korea declined from 800 to fewer than 100, according to The Atlantic.
...
At the start of the coronavirus, the government urged medical companies to rapidly develop testing kits and informed manufacturers to prepare for their increased production. The government then opened up 600 national testing centers and drive-through testing spots to ensure that hospitals wouldn't be overwhelmed with unaware patients experiencing symptoms.

When a citizen becomes a confirmed case, the government sends out a text message urging people to visit a website that shows the travel routes and places that person had wandered. Using security camera footage and credit card numbers, the government then contacts anyone who might have crossed paths with the infected individual—a trade-off between privacy and public health that most citizens seem to accept as a price of navigating occasional epidemics.

People who go into quarantine are checked on twice a day by health officials and encouraged to use different towels, dishes and bathrooms than the ones used by their housemates. The country also requires anyone visiting from foreign countries to download an app that records their health symptoms when they first arrive and then requires symptom updates for days afterward.
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And before you go rushing back to the casino, please educate yourself about this virus. It is nothing to be dismissed or diminished. It is a powerful illness and we don't yet know the long term effects of getting COVID-19.

"Finally, A Virus Got Me", Scientist Who Fought Ebola and HIV Reflects on Facing Death from COVID-19
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/finally-virus-got-me-scientist-who-fought-ebola-and-hiv-reflects-facing-death-covid-19#

Virologist Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, fell ill with COVID-19 in mid-March. He spent a week in a hospital and has been recovering at his home in London since. Climbing a flight of stairs still leaves him breathless.

Piot, who grew up in Belgium, was one of the discoverers of the Ebola virus in 1976 and spent his career fighting infectious diseases. He headed the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS between 1995 and 2008 and is currently a coronavirus adviser to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. But his personal confrontation with the new coronavirus was a life-changing experience, Piot says.

This interview took place on 2 May. Piot’s answers have been edited and translated from Dutch:
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“ON 19 MARCH, I SUDDENLY HAD A HIGH FEVER and a stabbing headache. My skull and hair felt very painful, which was bizarre. I didn’t have a cough at the time, but still, my first reflex was: I have it. I kept working—I’m a workaholic—but from home. We put a lot of effort into teleworking at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine last year, so that we didn’t have to travel as much. That investment, made in the context of the fight against global warming, is now very useful, of course.

I tested positive for COVID-19, as I suspected. I put myself in isolation in the guest room at home. But the fever didn’t go away. I had never been seriously ill and have not taken a day of sick leave the past 10 years. I live a pretty healthy life and walk regularly. The only risk factor for corona is my age—I’m 71. I’m an optimist, so I thought it would pass. But on 1 April, a doctor friend advised me to get a thorough examination because the fever and especially the exhaustion were getting worse and worse.

It turned out I had severe oxygen deficiency, although I still wasn’t short of breath. Lung images showed I had severe pneumonia, typical of COVID-19, as well as bacterial pneumonia. I constantly felt exhausted, while normally I’m always buzzing with energy. It wasn’t just fatigue, but complete exhaustion; I’ll never forget that feeling. I had to be hospitalized, although I tested negative for the virus in the meantime. This is also typical for COVID-19: The virus disappears, but its consequences linger for weeks.

I was concerned I would be put on a ventilator immediately because I had seen publications showing it increases your chance of dying. I was pretty scared, but fortunately, they just gave me an oxygen mask first and that turned out to work. So, I ended up in an isolation room in the antechamber of the intensive care department. You’re tired, so you’re resigned to your fate. You completely surrender to the nursing staff. You live in a routine from syringe to infusion and you hope you make it. I am usually quite proactive in the way I operate, but here I was 100% patient.

I shared a room with a homeless person, a Colombian cleaner, and a man from Bangladesh—all three diabetics, incidentally, which is consistent with the known picture of the disease. The days and nights were lonely because no one had the energy to talk. I could only whisper for weeks; even now, my voice loses power in the evening. But I always had that question going around in my head: How will I be when I get out of this?

After fighting viruses all over the world for more than 40 years, I have become an expert in infections. I’m glad I had corona and not Ebola, although I read a scientific study yesterday that concluded you have a 30% chance of dying if you end up in a British hospital with COVID-19. That’s about the same overall mortality rate as for Ebola in 2014 in West Africa. That makes you lose your scientific level-headedness at times, and you surrender to emotional reflections. They got me, I sometimes thought. I have devoted my life to fighting viruses and finally, they get their revenge. For a week I balanced between heaven and Earth, on the edge of what could have been the end.
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One week after I was discharged, I became increasingly short of breath. I had to go to the hospital again, but fortunately, I could be treated on an outpatient basis. I turned out to have an organizing pneumonia-induced lung disease, caused by a so-called cytokine storm. It’s a result of your immune defense going into overdrive. Many people do not die from the tissue damage caused by the virus, but from the exaggerated response of their immune system, which doesn’t know what to do with the virus. I’m still under treatment for that, with high doses of corticosteroids that slow down the immune system. If I had had that storm along with the symptoms of the viral outbreak in my body, I wouldn’t have survived. I had atrial fibrillation, with my heart rate going up to 170 beats per minute; that also needs to be controlled with therapy, particularly to prevent blood clotting events, including stroke. This is an underestimated ability of the virus: It can probably affect all the organs in our body.
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Many people think COVID-19 kills 1% of patients, and the rest get away with some flulike symptoms. But the story gets more complicated. Many people will be left with chronic kidney and heart problems. Even their neural system is disrupted. There will be hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, possibly more, who will need treatments such as renal dialysis for the rest of their lives. The more we learn about the coronavirus, the more questions arise. We are learning while we are sailing. That’s why I get so annoyed by the many commentators on the sidelines who, without much insight, criticize the scientists and policymakers trying hard to get the epidemic under control. That’s very unfair.
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The Commission is strongly committed to supporting the development of a vaccine. Let’s be clear: Without a coronavirus vaccine, we will never be able to live normally again. The only real exit strategy from this crisis is a vaccine that can be rolled out worldwide. That means producing billions of doses of it, which, in itself, is a huge challenge in terms of manufacturing logistics. And despite the efforts, it is still not even certain that developing a COVID-19 vaccine is possible.

Today there’s also the paradox that some people who owe their lives to vaccines no longer want their children to be vaccinated. That could become a problem if we want to roll out a vaccine against the coronavirus, because if too many people refuse to join, we will never get the pandemic under control.

I hope this crisis will ease political tensions in a number of areas. It may be an illusion, but we have seen in the past that polio vaccination campaigns have led to truces. Likewise, I hope that the World Health Organization [WHO], which is doing a great job in the fight against COVID-19, can be reformed to make it less bureaucratic and less dependent on advisory committees in which individual countries primarily defend their own interests. WHO too often becomes a political playground.

Anyway, I remain a born optimist. And now that I have faced death, my tolerance levels for nonsense and bullshit have gone down even more than before. So, I continue calmly and enthusiastically, although more selectively than before my illness.”
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In 10 weeks, we have gone from zero deaths to almost 80,000 in the US. We still don't have widespread testing of non-symptomatic people and there is no way to track the people who have come into contact with a newly positive person. This could get slippery if we open up everything again too fast. Please be safe out there.

Sonya · May 11, 2020

Acres: Technology can be used to meet slot machine cleaning requirements
https://www.cdcgamingreports.com/acres-technology-can-be-used-to-meet-slot-machine-cleaning-requirements/

Among the health and safety guidelines approved last week by Nevada gaming regulators for reopening casinos in a post-COVID-19 era is a requirement that properties have a plan in place for cleaning gaming machines, devices, chairs, and other ancillary equipment on a regular basis.

Gaming equipment developer John Acres said technology can help implement that process.
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Acres, creator of the casino industry’s first player tracking system and a 2016 inductee to the Gaming Hall of Fame, said his company’s Kai slot machine application can easily be programmed to alert casino floor personnel that a customer’s play on a particular machine is over and the device is ready for cleaning.

The system is currently used by some 40 commercial and tribal casinos in the U.S. to notify slot floor personnel, through a message sent to a mobile device, when there is a malfunction or other issue with a game. The devices will now have the Clean Machine function, as well.
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Kai is currently used on slot machines from a variety of manufacturers in such properties as Wynn Las Vegas and Encore on the Strip, Mystic Lake in Minnesota, Muckleshoot in Washington, and Casino Del Sol in Arizona.

Noah Acres, the company’s vice president of marketing and sales, said the Clean Machine function works because Kai knows exactly when each play session ends.

“When this happens, a cleaning call is issued to the nearest available qualified employee,” Noah Acres said in an email. “A casino of any size should be able to get somebody to the vacated machine in well under a minute.”
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Western States Will Help Nevada Form Plan for Sports Returning
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2020/may/11/sisolak-western-states-will-help-nevada-form-plan/

The Raiders hope to open Allegiant Stadium in September on Monday Night Football. The Golden Knights want to finish a season that saw them closing in on their second division title in three years before it was paused for coronavirus concerns.

There’s also UNLV football, which is slated to host a pair of Power 5 conference opponents in September, and the Aces, Aviators and Lights are also on standby waiting for their seasons to launch.

Whether these events happen is one question. Whether there will be anyone in the building to witness them is another, perhaps even more complicated, question.
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“The governor’s office is in frequent communication with the other states in the Western States Pact to discuss best practices and share ideas as it relates to COVID-19,” the statement read. “These conversations help inform actions Nevada may take in its state-specific reopening plan.”
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It’s not as if Sisolak is apathetic toward athletics, either. As Clark County commissioner, Sisolak was a mainstay at sporting events in Las Vegas, and even helped bring professional hockey to the valley, as he reminded locals in an ad during his run for governor. He’ll want sports back as much as anyone.

But it’s not that easy.

Nevada just began the reopening of local businesses shuttered by Sisolak’s directive on March 17. On Saturday, Nevada began “Phase 1” of the state’s “Roadmap to Recovery,” which included dine-in restaurants and retail stores opening with strict distancing guidelines. Sports were of course not included, and figure to be among the last industries to re-open, along with casinos.

“As (Sisolak) said last (week), large sporting events will not be reopening during Phase 1, and right now there is no date for reopening of such venues,” his office said in the same statement.

Even if Nevada or any state gave the green light to sports to return with fans, leagues will still have their own say on whether they will allow customers in.
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But any action involving the NHL — or the NBA, which has proposed using Las Vegas as a hub for its playoffs to return — would almost certainly be played without fans. That’s how the Korean Baseball Organization launched last week, becoming one of the world’s first major leagues to host games after virus shutdowns.

“My guess is that we would start with either limited fans or empty arenas, so just the teams and their associated staffs,” Florida Panthers president Matthew Caldwell told the Associated Press.
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Nevada has yet to make a declarative statement on if or when sports can return with fans. Ultimately local governments will have the final say on whether it’s safe for its residents to catch a game, and leagues will have to adjust to that.

Other than the NFL plowing ahead with its schedule release, there’s no firm date for when the next sporting event in Nevada will be held. Maybe it’s part of the NBA playoffs package. Maybe it's a Golden Knights game.

And, of course, maybe it’s not until there is a vaccine.
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Wynn Resorts offers exclusive VIP package to raise funds for ALL IN Challenge
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/wynn-resorts-offers-exclusive-vip-package-to-raise-funds-for-all-in-challenge/

A private jet, a two-night stay in an exclusive villa, round-the-clock butler, meeting a Wynn Resorts headliner and being treated like “Las Vegas royalty” are just some of the highlights of a special VIP package that will be auctioned off to raise money to fight hunger.

According to a Wynn Las Vegas news release, CEO Matt Maddox created the package after he was challenged by Michael Rubin, the founder and executive chairman of Fanatics, to take part in his ALL IN Challenge to raise money to feed the hungry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The package will be auctioned off to increase donations and there will be two winners who can bring others with them. The starting bid is $50,000.
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The ALL IN Challenge has raised $38 million to date and is aiming to become the largest digital fundraising movement in history by bringing together preeminent entertainers, athletes, business titans, and more to donate prized possessions or create once-in-a-lifetime experiences, according to the news release.

All of the money raised will go to Meals On Wheels, No Kid Hungry, and America’s Food Fund, which is directly benefiting Feeding America and World Central Kitchen.
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And lastly, I saw this article from Washington Post this weekend and thought some of you might be interested in knowing more about how this virus attacks the human body.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/05/10/coronavirus-attacks-body-symptoms/
Doctors keep discovering new ways the coronavirus attacks the body
Damage to the kidneys, heart, brain — even ‘covid toes’ — prompts reassessment of the disease and how to treat it

Deborah Coughlin was neither short of breath nor coughing. In those first days after she became infected by the novel coronavirus, her fever never spiked above 100 degrees. It was vomiting and diarrhea that brought her to a Hartford, Conn., emergency room on May 1.

“You would have thought it was a stomach virus,” said her daughter, Catherina Coleman. “She was talking and walking and completely coherent.”

But even as Coughlin, 67, chatted with her daughters on her cellphone, the oxygen level in her blood dropped so low that most patients would be near death. She is on a ventilator and in critical condition at St. Francis Hospital, one more patient with a strange constellation of symptoms that physicians are racing to recognize, explain and treat.
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“At the beginning, we didn’t know what we were dealing with,” said Valentin Fuster, physician-in-chief at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. “We were seeing patients dying in front of us. It was all of a sudden, you’re in a different ballgame, and you don’t know why.”

Today, there is widespread recognition the novel coronavirus is far more unpredictable than a simple respiratory virus. Often it attacks the lungs, but it can also strike anywhere from the brain to the toes. Many doctors are focused on treating the inflammatory reactions it triggers and its capacity to cause blood clots, even as they struggle to help patients breathe.
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More than four months of clinical experience across Asia, Europe and North America has shown the pathogen does much more than invade the lungs. “No one was expecting a disease that would not fit the pattern of pneumonia and respiratory illness,” said David Reich, a cardiac anesthesiologist and president of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

It attacks the heart, weakening its muscles and disrupting its critical rhythm. It savages kidneys so badly some hospitals have run short of dialysis equipment. It crawls along the nervous system, destroying taste and smell and occasionally reaching the brain. It creates blood clots that can kill with sudden efficiency and inflames blood vessels throughout the body.

It can begin with a few symptoms or none at all, then days later, squeeze the air out of the lungs without warning. It picks on the elderly, people weakened by previous disease, and, disproportionately, the obese. It harms men more than women, but there are also signs it complicates pregnancies.
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Symptoms can include:

It mostly spares the young. Until it doesn’t: Last week, doctors warned of a rare inflammatory reaction with cardiac complications among children that may be connected to the virus. On Friday, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) announced 73 children had fallen severely ill in the state and a 5-year-old boy in New York City had become the first child to die of the syndrome. Two more children had succumbed as of Saturday.

That news has shaken many doctors, who felt they were finally grasping the full dimensions of the disease in adults. “We were all thinking this is a disease that kills old people, not kids,” Reich said.

Mount Sinai has treated five children with the condition. Reich said each started with gastrointestinal symptoms, which turned into inflammatory complications that caused very low blood pressure and expanded their blood vessels. This led to heart failure in the case of the first child who died.
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Of the millions, perhaps billions, of coronaviruses, six were previously known to infect humans.

Four cause colds that spread easily each winter, barely noticed. Another was responsible for the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome that killed 774 people in 2003. Yet another sparked the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012, which kills 34 percent of the people who contract it. But few do.

SARS-CoV-2, the bad seed of the coronavirus family, is the seventh. It has managed to combine the infectiousness of its cold-causing cousins with some of the lethality of SARS and MERS. It can spread before people show symptoms of disease, making it difficult to control, especially without widespread and accurate testing. At the moment, social distancing is the only effective countermeasure.

It has infected 4 million people around the globe, killing more than 280,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. In the United States, 1.3 million have been infected and more than 78,000 have died.

Had SARS or MERS spread as widely as this virus, Rasmussen said, they might have shown the same capacity to attack beyond the lungs. But they were snuffed out quickly, leaving only a small sample of disease and death.
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Trying to define a pathogen in the midst of an ever-spreading epidemic is fraught with difficulties. Experts say it will be years until it is understood how the disease damages organs and how medications, genetics, diets, lifestyles and distancing impact its course.

“This is a virus that literally did not exist in humans six months ago,” said Geoffrey Barnes, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan who works in cardiovascular medicine. “We had to rapidly learn how this virus impacts the human body and identify ways to treat it literally in a time-scale of weeks. With many other diseases, we have had decades.”
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But many scientists have come to believe that much of the disease’s devastation comes from two intertwined causes.

The first is the harm the virus wreaks on blood vessels, leading to clots that can range from microscopic to sizable. Patients have suffered strokes and pulmonary emboli as clots break loose and travel to the brain and lungs. A study in the Lancet, a British medical journal, showed this may be because the virus directly targets the endothelial cells that line blood vessels.

The second is an exaggerated response from the body’s own immune system, a storm of killer “cytokines” that attack the body’s own cells along with the virus as it seeks to defend the body from an invader.
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“Things change in science all the time. Theories are made and thrown out. Hypotheses are tweaked. It doesn’t mean we don’t know what we are doing. It means we are learning,” said Deepak Bhatt, executive director of interventional cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Inflammation of those endothelial cells lining blood vessels may help explain why the virus harms so many parts of the body, said Mandeep Mehra, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and one of the authors of the Lancet study on how covid-19 attacks blood vessels.
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“What this virus does is it starts as a viral infection and becomes a more global disturbance to the immune system and blood vessels — and what kills is exactly that,” Mehra said. “Our hypothesis is that covid-19 begins as a respiratory virus and kills as a cardiovascular virus.”
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The thinking of kidney specialists has evolved along similar lines. Initially, they attributed widespread and severe kidney disease to the damage caused by ventilators and certain medications given to intensive-care patients, said Daniel Batlle, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Then they noticed damage to the waste-filtering kidney cells of patients even before they needed intensive care. And studies out of Wuhan found the pathogen in the kidneys themselves, leading to speculation the virus is harming the organ.

“There was nothing unique at first,” Batlle said. But the new information “shows this is beyond the regular bread-and-butter acute kidney injury that we normally see.”
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Like other coronaviruses, SARS-Cov-2 infiltrates the body by attaching to a receptor, ACE2, found on some cells. But the makeup of the spikes that protrude from this virus is somewhat different, allowing the virus to bind more tightly. As a result, fewer virus particles are required to infect the host. This also may help explain why this virus is so much more infectious than SARS, Rasmussen said.
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Other factors can’t be ruled out in transmission, she said, including the amount of virus people shed and how strictly they observe social distancing rules.

Once inside a cell, the virus replicates, causing chaos. ACE2 receptors, which help regulate blood pressure, are plentiful in the lungs, kidneys and intestines — organs hit hard by the pathogen in many patients. That also may be why high blood pressure has emerged as one of the most common preexisting conditions in people who become severely ill with covid-19.
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Inflammation spurs clotting as white blood cells fight off infection. They interact with platelets and activate them in a way that increases the likelihood of clotting, Elkind said.

Such reactions have been seen in severe infections, such as sepsis. But for covid-19, he said, “we are seeing this in a large number of people in a very short time, so it really stands out.”

“The virus can attack a lot of different parts of the body, and we don’t understand why it causes some problems for some people, different problems for others — and no problems at all for a large proportion,” Elkind said.
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I am not a scientist, obviously, but I found that article informative. And a little scary. Please be careful out there and do what you need to do to avoid catching this thing.

Sonya · May 11, 2020

EDC Announces their Online Rave
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/details-announced-for-edc-las-vegas-virtual-rave-a-thon/

The company that produces EDC Las Vegas has announced details for their livestream event that is taking place this coming weekend.

Because the Electric Daisy Carnival was postponed to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers have planned a virtual “Rave-A-Thon,” that will take place during the festival’s original dates of May 15-17. The livestream will run on Insomniac TV from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. PST each of the three days.

The virtual festival is being produced by Insomniac Events. Insomniac says the stream will feature multiple stages broadcasting across two channels, showcasing exclusive live performances from many artists originally scheduled to perform at EDC Las Vegas 2020.
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List of artists performing during the Virtual Rave-A-Thon include:

12th Planet

AC Slater

Afrojack

ARMNHMR

ATLiens

Benny Benassi

Boombox Cartel

Borgore

Chris Lorenzo

Claude VonStroke

David Guetta

Deorro

Dombresky

Don Diablo

Duke Dumont

Ekali

Flosstradamus

Headhunterz

i_o

JSTJR

K?D

Kaskade

KSHMR

Lee Foss

Malaa

NGHTMRE b2b Ghastly

Nicole Moudaber

Oliver Heldens

Seven Lions

Sidepiece

Subtronics

Svdden Death Presents VOYD

Tchami

Tokimonsta

Valentino Khan

Vini Vici

Wax Motif

Whethan

Yellow Claw

Z-Trip

Zeds Dead

Zhu

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MLB Owners Okay Plan that Could Lead to July Start
https://apnews.com/6195fbe572aa83a0616053e9133a8551

Major League Baseball owners gave the go-ahead Monday to making a proposal to the players’ union that could lead to the coronavirus-delayed season starting around the Fourth of July weekend in ballparks without fans, a plan that envisioned expanding the designated hitter to the National League for 2020.

Spring training could start in early to mid-June, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the plan were not announced.

MLB officials are slated to make a presentation to the union on Tuesday. An agreement with the players’ association is needed, and talks are expected to be difficult — especially over a proposal for a revenue split that would be unprecedented for baseball. Players withstood a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 to fight off such a plan.
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LVRJ photographer kmcannonphoto posted this photo on his Twitter of the new Apache sign going in downtown.
https://twitter.com/kmcannonphoto/status/1259879179350245380

Venetian/Palazzo Issues Reopening Statement
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/venetian-resort-las-vegas-issues-reopening-statement/

The Venetian Resort Las Vegas released a statement Monday afternoon regarding the reopening of their property following COVID-19 closures. While a reopening date has not yet been set, they are preparing to enhance testing measures for the health and safety of their employees and future visitors.

In the statement, it was confirmed Venetian Resort will continue to pay its team members until their anticipated June reopening. They will also continue providing emergency pay for employees of several partner restaurants.
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Here is the announcement:

Our top priority continues to be the health and safety of our Team Members and visitors. Although a re-opening date of The Venetian Resort has not been set, we are working hard to be as prepared as possible for the day we welcome our guests.

Starting Monday, May 11, The Venetian will begin Covid-19 testing for all Team Members. The tests will be administered at the Venetian Resort by the Wellness Group and PMH Laboratory, Inc. Team Members and immediate household members, 13 and over, will have access to these tests. All physical distancing protocols will be observed throughout the testing process. The full cost of the Covid-19 testing is being paid for by Las Vegas Sands Corp., even if a Team Member or immediate household member does not have Las Vegas Sands Corp. medical insurance.

We want to create a safe and healthy environment for our visitors and Team Members. Additionally, we believe it is critical for all Team Members to be well-informed about their health. At this time we are exploring multiple options for ongoing testing.

We are pleased to share that we plan to continue to pay our Team Members until our anticipated re-opening in June. We will also continue our program to provide emergency pay for employees of several of our partner restaurants.

THE VENETIAN RESORT LAS VEGAS
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Caesars Announces Phased Opening on Quarterly Call

Couple of different articles on this one.

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/caesars-will-reopen-properties-in-phases-based-on-demand-lost-66m-in-1q/

Caesars has released a “comprehensive health and safety program” that includes all employees wearing face masks and undergo health screening at its properties.

“We are working closely with public health authorities, gaming regulators and infectious disease specialists to design our plan,” Rodio said. “We look forward to welcoming our guests and team members back to our properties as soon as it is appropriate to do so.”
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According to Caesars, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Council Bluffs and Lake Tahoe will reopen in phases based on anticipated business demand. The company plans to reopen in these markets and increase staff capacity as well as amenities such as restaurants and live entertainment in line with consumer demand and guidance from public health authorities.
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https://lasvegassun.com/news/2020/may/11/all-employees-will-wear-masks-when-casinos-reopen/

All employees will wear masks when Caesars Entertainment resorts in Las Vegas eventually reopen after the coronavirus shutdown, according to a company statement.

Caesars said it will also provide masks to guests and will “strongly encourage” patrons to wear them.

The measures to combat the virus are among a number outlined in a reopening update the company issued today.

“All team members will be provided with a mask and they will be required to wear a mask while at work,” the statement says.
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Caesars did not offer dates for reopening its nine Strip resorts but said they would resume operations in phases.
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“We look forward to welcoming our guests and team members back to our properties as soon as it is appropriate to do so,” Rodio said in a statement.

“We are implementing new protocols focused on the wellbeing of our team members, guests and communities to create environments with high standards of sanitation and physical distancing practices,” Rodio said.
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During a quarterly earnings call Monday, Rodio said he expects Caesars Palace will be among the first of the company’s Las Vegas resorts to open.

“When we do see openings in Vegas, we’re going to look at it in a phased approach,” Rodio said. “Certainly, Caesars Palace would be one of the properties that we would open first. We’d probably also open a value-oriented property on the east side of the Strip, and it may be three or four properties that open depending upon consumer demand.”

Rodio said he’s expecting some Strip resorts to start welcoming guests in the coming weeks, assuming all goes well with Sisolak’s first phase of a multi-faceted reopening plan.

“I support the governor in the approach that he’s taken,” Rodio said. “The fact that he decided to open the phase one businesses, I didn’t expect that to happen until later in the month. If all goes well, knock wood, phase one could be about a two-week phase. If there’s not a spike, we could be looking at Strip openings later this month.”
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He also said Caesars properties in Las Vegas witnessed an increase in reservations for later this year, right around the time the Las Vegas Raiders football scheduled for 2020 was released earlier this month.

“We’re seeing some encouraging statistics and information as we look toward the fourth quarter,” Rodio said. “When the governor announced the move to phase one and the Raiders’ schedule came out, we actually had a pretty bump in reservations booked for September through the fourth quarter.”
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https://www.cdcgamingreports.com/caesars-plans-casino-reopenings-in-three-states-announces-health-and-safety-program/

Caesars Entertainment said Monday that it was planning a phased reopening of its gaming properties in four markets, covering three states, that have been closed by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement released separately with the company’s first-quarter earnings, Caesars said the reopenings would be based on business demand, and only when permitted by regulators or tribal governments. The company also said it has developed a “comprehensive health and safety program” that will it utilize as part of the reopening.
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CEO Tony Rodio also said on Monday’s first-quarter conference call that Louisiana could reopen casinos by Memorial Day weekend and that North Carolina is looking to open casinos in a few weeks. Caesars operates properties in both markets.

Rodio said Caesars would initially open Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and at least one of the “value-oriented properties” on the east side of Strip. He said others could open quickly.
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Sonya · May 12, 2020

Lots of updates today.

Louisiana to enter Phase I of coronavirus reopening, but 'It’s not mission accomplished'
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/coronavirus/article_ff5be800-939b-11ea-a93e-4b25026b037b.html?214

Louisiana will begin the first phase of reopening its economy Friday, nearly two months after Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a stay-at-home order aimed at slowing the spread of the virus in one of the nation’s hardest-hit states.

The governor announced Monday he would allow a list of businesses including gyms, barber shops, hair salons, casinos, bars with food permits and other businesses, to reopen with 25% capacity, a condition officials said is vital to encourage social distancing and prevent a large rebound in cases. A host of other businesses, as well as churches, that have allowed to operate under the 10-person occupancy limit can loosen that to a quarter of their normal capacity.
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“There is no playbook on how you can deem your state is 100% ready to reopen,” Billioux said. “What we need to look at is overall do you see the trends moving in the right direction.”
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While many of the businesses closed by the stay-at-home order will be allowed to reopen, Edwards cautioned that people need to practice social distancing, wear masks in public and stay home when sick. Officials will be monitoring the state’s coronavirus numbers for a spike in cases that could prompt Edwards to ratchet up restrictions again, though he declined to offer any specifics for how big a rebound would be needed to rise to that level.

“While we’re easing restrictions ... It’s not mission accomplished,” Edwards said, emphasizing his reopening was generally in line with White House guidance. “We’re not declaring victory. There’s still COVID out there.”
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Boyd Gaming Might Not Open Downtown Casinos
https://vegas.eater.com/2020/5/11/21254610/boyd-gaming-may-not-reopen-las-vegas-casinos-cal-main-street-station-fremont-coronavirus-pandemic

Boyd Gaming Corp., the local casino company with 29 properties across the country, may not open three of its resorts in Downtown Las Vegas when Gov. Steve Sisolak allows casinos to reopen statewide.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the California Hotel, Main Street Station, and the Fremont Hotel might remain closed along the Fremont Street Experience, citing a reliance on tourism, especially from the Hawaiian market, which may be slow to return. The Cal especially draws tourists from Hawai’i, gearing its marketing as a Ninth Island destination with dining and events created for Hawaiian crowds.

Boyd Gaming’s other Las Vegas properties — including the Orleans, Gold Coast, Suncoast, Aliante Casino, Eastside Cannery, Cannery, and Sam’s Town — rely on a large percentage of business from local retirees.

“Those retirees didn’t have a job before this started, don’t have a job now. They still have their income,” says president and chief executive officer of Boyd Gaming Corp. Keith Smith.
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ElDorado CEO Looking Forward to Closing Ceasars Deal by end of June
https://www.cdcgamingreports.com/eldorado-ceo-looking-forward-to-closing-17-3b-caesars-deal-by-end-of-june/

“It’s very clear to us the best option is to continue and close the Caesars transaction,” Reeg said. “It wasn’t a difficult decision. Everything we liked about the deal still holds up, and we’re looking forward to closing the transaction and getting underway.”

Eldorado is the acquiring company; its management will control the merged operation out of its corporate offices in Reno, Nevada. Reeg will be CEO of the combined company and has long targeted the end of June for closing the deal, which was announced nearly 11 months ago.

On Monday, however, he hinted there was a slight chance the closing could fall into July if one of three state regulatory agencies is not able to get the transaction on its agenda either this month or in June.

“I’d say it’s slim,” Reeg said. The transaction would create the nation’s largest regional casino company, with a total of nearly 60 properties in 16 states.
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MGM Releases Their Plan for Reopening
https://www.cdcgamingreports.com/mgms-seven-point-health-and-safety-plan-includes-mandatory-usage-of-ppe-other-measures/

MGM Resorts International said its casinos nationwide will have self-screening temperature checks at all entrances for customers and employees while requiring its workforce to utilize masks and other personal protective equipment as the company moves to reopen properties shuttered since mid-March in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our properties will not look the way they used to for a while, and that’s not only okay, it’s critically important,” MGM Resorts acting CEO Bill Hornbuckle said Tuesday. “We will continue providing the hospitality experiences we are known for, but we must do so safely.”
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“Preparing for the moment we can re-open our doors, MGM Resorts focused on developing a plan that puts health and safety at the center of everything we do,” Hornbuckle said. “Our ‘Seven-Point Safety Plan’ is the result of months of consultations with public health experts and outlines our comprehensive approach to welcoming guests back safely.”

In addition to temperature checks and the mandated use of PPE by employees, MGM has suggested the suggested usage of masks by customers, who will be offered masks free of charge.

Also, a six-foot physical distancing policy is in place where feasible. Plexiglass barriers will be installed in areas throughout casinos and lobbies, where appropriate. Signage will be installed throughout properties to guide employees and guests on how to safely practice physical distancing.

Handwashing stations and enhanced sanitation will be evident throughout the company’s resorts; heating ventilation and air condition controls, along with air quality, will be improved to mitigate the risk of virus transmission; and protocols will be established for potential incidents of COVID-19.

MGM Resorts is also enhancing its digital technology for guests, including hotel-check-in processes through mobile applications and digital room keys, and digital menus at restaurant outlets.
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In an interview of NBC’s Today Show Tuesday, Hornbuckle said he hoped Nevada’s casino could reopen by early June, if not sooner.

“If our counts stay reasonably low and things don’t escalate, we’ll be opening the casinos sometime late this month, first part of June,” he said in an interview Today’s Craig Melvin.

Hornbuckle said he believes customers will return to Las Vegas, but it will take a while, saying there are “three buckets” of Las Vegas visitors.

“I think there’s those who will come immediately, irrespective of the health concerns,” Hornbuckle said. “I think there’s a bucket of people that we need to convince that it’s safe and it’s still a fun and encouraging and engaging environment. And there’s a third bucket of folks who I think will wait and see how this thing plays out and ultimately come and enjoy Las Vegas probably next year.”
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Here is the video of Hornbuckle's Today Show Appearance:
https://www.today.com/video/mgm-resorts-ceo-describes-the-future-of-las-vegas-casinos-83327045910

And you can find an overview of the MGM Plan here:
https://www.mgmresorts.com/en/covid-19/seven-point-safety-plan.html

And the full 19 page document here:
https://static.mgmresorts.com/content/dam/MGM/corporate/corporate-initiatives/safely/seven-point-safety-plan.pdf

Here is the basic plan:

OVERVIEW: MGM RESORTS’ SEVEN-POINT SAFETY PLAN

The full report, including detailed protocols, procedures and operational enhancements can be found HERE.

These protocols and procedures focus on balancing the customer service guests have come to expect from MGM Resorts with the urgent need to apply knowledge about COVID-19 and adapt environments accordingly. This plan is being implemented at MGM Resorts’ properties throughout the United States, with additions and changes being made based on local jurisdictions.

MGM Resorts’ Seven-Point Safety Plan is as follows:

Screening, Temperature Checks and Employee Training: MGM Resorts has implemented employee-screening measures to assess signs and symptoms of infection and whether the employee resides or cares for someone who has recently been diagnosed with the virus. Employees are currently and will continue to go through temperature checks before entering properties.

Guests will be asked to abide by a similar self-screening protocol prior to arriving and during their stay. Guests who have reason to believe they may have been exposed to the virus are strongly urged to follow CDC guidelines for self-quarantine and not travel. We will look forward to welcoming those guests once the self-quarantine period is complete.

Mandatory Masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): All MGM Resorts employees will be provided and required to wear an approved mask when on our properties. We will also strongly encourage guests to wear masks in public areas and offer masks to any guests who need one, free of charge. Gloves will continue to be worn by employees who require them to do their jobs, such as food handlers and employees who clean public areas. Additional categories of employees required to wear PPE will be identified by medical experts.

Drink service: We will ask guests to minimize the amount of time masks are removed when drinking on the casino floor.

Eating: We will ask guests to refrain from eating on the casino floor to minimize the amount of time masks are removed.

Physical Distancing: Six-foot physical distancing policy will be in place, wherever feasible, with floor guides serving as reminders throughout MGM Resorts properties. From time-to-time, six-foot distancing will be challenging – and in those cases, reasonable mitigating protocols will be implemented, such as plexiglass barriers or eye protection for employees. Plexiglass barriers will be installed in areas throughout casinos and lobbies, where appropriate, for the safety of guests and employees. Signage will be installed throughout properties to guide employees and guests on how to safely practice physical distancing.

Handwashing and Enhanced Sanitization: Prior to property closures in March, MGM Resorts implemented increased and enhanced routine cleaning, based on CDC guidelines, with a focus on high-touch surfaces in common areas. We will continue using proven cleaning products in accordance with EPA guidelines for coronaviruses, bacteria and other infectious pathogens. Electrostatic sprayers will be used in many large areas to allow us to apply disinfectant more efficiently.

In addition, custom-built handwashing stations with soap and water, along with hand-sanitizing stations, will be readily available in high-traffic areas and with a visible presence. Signage will be installed to guide and remind employees and guests of the importance of proper handwashing protocols.

Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Controls and Air Quality: MGM Resorts has always placed a high priority on air quality for our guests and has reviewed the operation of HVAC systems to identify additional opportunities to enhance their effectiveness. Rigorous measures in accordance with established guidelines to help mitigate the risk of virus transmission have been taken throughout our properties.

As scientific information becomes available about the virus, and as additional guidance from state and local authorities and our medical experts evolve, we will continue to review and adjust the operation of our HVAC systems, fully recognizing the important role they have in keeping employees and guests healthy and safe.

Incident Response Protocols: MGM Resorts has protocols in place aimed at reducing the chance infection will spread. In the unfortunate event a guest or employee tests positive for the virus, we will activate incident response protocols to ensure the infected individual has access to medical treatment, exposed areas are thoroughly sanitized and, when possible, notify those who may have come in close, prolonged contact with the infected individual. MGM Resorts has medical and security personnel on staff to respond quickly in the event of an incident.

Digital Innovations: MGM Resorts is reimagining several aspects of the guest experience through technology to transition current processes into contactless options for guests that eliminates or reduces the need for waiting in line.

Contactless Check-In: Guests will have the ability to complete the check-in process entirely themselves through the MGM Resorts mobile app. This includes the ability to process payment, verify identification and obtain a digital room key, all through a mobile device. If preferred, physical keys will be available through self-serve key encoders. Employees will be available for guests who prefer check-in without using their mobile device, while still maintaining a line-reduced environment.

Food & Beverage: Digital menus will be available to view on personal mobile devices via QR code. Virtual queues will be in place for guests when immediate seating is unavailable. Guests will receive a text message notification when their table is ready.

Nevada Has Met 2 of the 3 Criteria for Reopening
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/nevada-meets-two-of-three-reopening-criteria-under-new-coronavirus-model-though-testing-still-lags

New data from the nonprofit coronavirus modeling organization Covid Act Now released last week show Nevada remains at a moderate risk for reopening, even as the state began allowing some businesses to open their doors over the weekend.

The new modeling, which was released last Friday as part of a soft launch, shows that the Silver State is meeting one key metric for reopening, with only 27 percent of ICU beds available to treat people with the virus occupied. But Nevada, like the rest of the nation, still has struggled to implement widespread testing and each COVID-19-afflicted person is still infecting more than one other person, two other metrics the organization looks at in its modeling.
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“You can see based on these benchmarks that Nevada is actually trending well. I think that it backs up what the state is doing. It backs up what the governor has launched with Phase 1,” Maddox said. “We’re just trying to help provide a public source of information that someone might look at or point to as to how we are doing and what we are measuring.”

For instance, Covid Act Now’s analysis shows that Nevada’s infection rate is down from a high of 1.94 people per COVID-19 positive patient on March 12 to 1.04 people per patient as of May 2. In Clark County, that rate is 1.05 and in Washoe County, it’s 1.15. For comparison, California’s infection rate is about 1.04, Arizona’s is 1.23, Utah’s is 1.17, and New York’s is 0.74.
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Though the organization’s modeling shows a lower test positivity rate than the one projected by the state, Covid Act Now still considers Nevada to only have a “medium” level of testing, indicating that “testing is not widespread.” The state has been working toward a 10 percent threshold recommended for reopening by the World Health Organization; however, Covid Act Now uses a 3 percent threshold, which is the rate that countries with robust testing, such as South Korea, have seen.

The third metric, which is still in beta mode, looks at the availability of ICU beds not being used by non-COVID-19 patients. According to Covid Act Now’s model, COVID-19 patients in Nevada are occupying about 27 percent of available ICU beds — 38 percent in Clark County and 13 percent in Washoe County — suggesting the state has enough capacity to handle a surge of new infections without needing to rely on field hospitals and other ancillary facilities.

“Our data suggests your hospitals need to be able to handle a doubling of admitted COVID patients without running out of capacity and having to ration who gets care,” Henderson said. “On this metric, Nevada is doing well. It could more than double its hospitalized COVID cases and not run out of capacity.”
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Here is the chart of the Positive Test Rate for Nevada. You can see that although they have dipped below the 10% threshold, I would not call that a bent curve quite yet.

I will continue this in the next post.

Sonya · May 12, 2020

Broadway Theaters to Remian Closed Through Labor Day
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/12/us/broadway-coronavirus-closed/index.html

New York City's Broadway theaters will remain closed through at least September 6 because of coronavirus, according to the Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry.

"While all Broadway shows would love to resume performances as soon as possible, we need to ensure the health and well-being of everyone who comes to the theatre -- behind the curtain and in front of it -- before shows can return. The Broadway League's membership is working in cooperation with the theatrical unions, government officials, and health experts to determine the safest ways to restart our industry," said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, in a press release.
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"Cabin Fever" Leads to Big Opening Weekend in South Dakota
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/11/cabin-fever-leads-to-big-reopening-weekend-for-south-dakota-casinos.html

For weeks, the burning question facing casino operators nationwide has been: “If you open, will they come?”

If Deadwood, South Dakota is any indication, the answer is yes.

This weekend 11 casinos in the historic destination town, which was the last in the nation to close its commercial gaming establishments, became the first to reopen.

“We were about 15% or 20% higher than a typical weekend business, which is significant,” said Caleb Arceneaux, CEO of Liv Hospitality, part of a family business that owns and operates Tin Lizzie Gaming Resort and Cadillac Jack’s Gaming Resort and four hotels in Deadwood.

“Cabin fever’s real, and I think people wanted to get out and experience, you know, gaming again,” Arceneaux said, adding that weekend occupancy was running 85% to 90%, with many driving in from surrounding states.
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In Deadwood, South Dakota, social distancing rules that call for 6 feet of separation are in effect in bars, restaurants and on gaming floors.
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Um... really? I don't see 6' between these people.

Though masks are not generally required, dealers for blackjack and other table games must wear masks, as they cannot maintain the 6-foot distance. And at the tables, only two chairs are available. Two slot machines are shut down between players and cleaning crews place stickers on machines that have been freshly sanitized. Craps and poker are limited to four players.
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Container Park is reopening Thursday, May 14th.

Note that the Mantis and the Playground will remain closed.

MotleyFool has an article about reopening Las Vegas.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/05/12/las-vegas-strip-on-border-controls-and-the-subsist.aspx

"I think the recovery here is going to be quicker than most any other place in the United States."

Former MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren

Let's say you live in Las Vegas, as I do. And let's start with two super, super, super extreme scenarios – strategies – for dealing with COVID-19 and opening up Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Strip moving forward.

Strict absolute containment. The Las Vegas Strip remains closed for the duration of the pandemic (~18-24 months). We fence in Las Vegas, and block access to non-residents. Coronavirus transmissions go down to zero; social distancing guidelines are largely relaxed, and life in Las Vegas otherwise mostly returns to normal, albeit without the income generated by locals who work on the Strip.

The status quo. The Las Vegas Strip opens along with the rest of the city, and no travel restrictions or other measures are put into place to control who can visit Las Vegas and under what conditions.

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The main point of last month's discussion was that when Las Vegas comes off lockdown and when the Las Vegas Strip reopens are – or at least should be – two completely different questions, with two different timelines. Whereas I think Las Vegas as a city has a relatively good chance at containment – it's isolated in the middle of the desert, and is sprawling suburbia aside from the Strip where few people actually live (in case you were wondering) – opening the Strip and inviting tourists is another can of worms entirely. As it stands, Las Vegas draws 42 million of the most geographically diverse visitors every year concentrated onto a 4-mile Strip, and is a Petri dish for a virus, and little different from a cruise ship in that regard.
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What happens when the first new COVID-19 cases emerge on the Strip?
This isn't really a hypothetical question, because we've already seen this happen. On Friday, March 13, the nightclub operator Hakkasan Group announced that one of its employees had tested presumptive positive for COVID-19, and immediately suspended all of its Las Vegas venue operations. That same day, MGM Resorts announced that several employees had tested presumptive positive, including an employee at Luxor.

Two days later on Sunday, March 15, both Wynn and MGM announced that they were shutting down all Las Vegas operations; and then two days after that, Governor Sisolak shut down the entire state.

Hence the current situation.
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Even South Korea – widely regarded as a gold standard for its handling of the pandemic – is not immune to setbacks. This past Saturday, just four days into a new phase of reopening, Seoul mayor Park Won-soon shut down the city's clubs and bars indefinitely after the discovery of a cluster of at least 54 infections tied to one man visiting three separate nightclubs on May 2.

On that, Park remarked: "Just because of a few people's carelessness, all our efforts so far can go to waste."

You get the idea. This time around, Las Vegas will be better prepared to minimize the impact of new cases with an enhanced ability to test, trace, and isolate new cases as we encounter them. But how many new cases do you suppose it will take to scare non-idiot potential visitors, or otherwise force the Strip to peel back operations or close again?
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In contrast to the mayor of Las Vegas, the mayors of Honolulu, Kauai and Maui county – three of the state's four mayors – on April 1 sent a letter to the White House asking to stop all non-essential travel to Hawaii, only to have Governor David Ige disregard the request, saying that it was up to the airlines and that they could not discriminate between essential and non-essential passengers.

By May 6, only about 5,000 total visitors had arrived to Hawaii since the quarantine rules were implemented, vs. a pre-pandemic intake of roughly 30,000 visitors per day. The curve in Hawaii has largely flattened since mid-April, with only two new cases Sunday bringing the total to 633 cases statewide, after reporting three new cases Saturday and zero cases on Friday.

Incidentally, the first death of a diagnosed COVID-19 patient in Hawaii was a patient who had traveled to Las Vegas at the end of March.

Meanwhile, Spain announced today that it would implement a similar 14-day quarantine for foreign visitors upon arrival staring this Friday, May 15. The United Kingdom is also expected to impose a similar 14-day quarantine for all visitors arriving by air except those from the Republic of Ireland. This would require visitors to declare an address and self-isolate at a private residence, and would go into effect at the end of the month.

Why is it, then, that when the rest of the world is trying to keep visitors away in order to protect their local populations, that some people in Las Vegas seem to be literally dying to bring people here before we are ready, and before we have the proper measures in place?
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According the UNLV Center for Gaming Research, the Las Vegas Strip hotel casinos provided 96,037 jobs in 2019. What's important to realize is that there are not 96k jobs at stake in reopening the Strip right now – those jobs are largely gone for the foreseeable future – but rather a fraction of a fraction of that number.

MGM Resorts, for example, indicated in its April 30 quarterly earnings call that only Bellagio and New York-New York among its Strip properties would open in the initial phase of the reopening the Las Vegas Strip, whenever that will occur. Similarly, Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) CEO Tony Rodio said on the company's earnings call Monday that only Caesars Palace and one other of the company's Strip properties would open in the initial phase.

Elsewhere in Las Vegas, Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) anticipates only opening its locals properties in Las Vegas in an initial casino opening phase – and not its downtown Fremont casinos, which rely on a Hawaii source market currently on lockdown, and which may be subject to crowd control measures on Fremont Street which have yet to be prescribed. And Red Rock Resorts (NASDAQ:RRR) will open its locals casinos in the initial casino phase without Palms, Texas Station, and both Fiesta casinos.

Moreover, most all of the Strip properties seem to be planning to open with limited hotel capacities, while the new COVID-19 safety policies prescribed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board limits casino gaming floors to operating at 50 percent capacity, while setting the following limits on table games capacity:

Blackjack - 3

Craps - 6

Roulette - 4

Poker - 4

The initial four-player limit on poker tables in particular is likely to – at best – put live poker on ice at most casinos on the Strip, while more likely pushing some of the smaller, fringe rooms toward closure and replacement with electronic machines (i.e. slots and electronic table games).
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The gist of it is that there is very little upside in opening the Las Vegas Strip early, but a lot of downside risk if new infections force the Strip to close and the rest of Las Vegas back on lockdown. This is a proposition that any investor or professional gambler worth a lick knows not to take.
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As a hospitality destination, Las Vegas has long been at the forefront of innovation, and if Las Vegas can get out in front and set a standard for testing capability here; set up the strongest possible standards for visitors to come here; and utilize new technologies to enhance safety protocols, Las Vegas could potentially establish itself as the safest post-COVID-19 destination on the planet.

But first things first.

The Las Vegas Strip should only reopen once. When the Las Vegas Strip reopens, the plan needs to be to open with the intention of staying open. This doesn't mean that if the Strip opens, we are committed to keeping it open at all costs; rather, what this means is that we shouldn't open the Strip until we believe we can do so without shutting it down again.

If Las Vegas is on lockdown, the Strip must close; if the Strip closes, Las Vegas must go on lockdown; but the Strip can stay closed without Las Vegas going back on lockdown. If it's not apparent by now, the Strip is by far the riskiest part of the equation, and opening it at all requires a lot more thought than most are giving it.

What happens in our source markets matters. Again, we are not operating in a vacuum, and everything that happens elsewhere will affect the level of potential visitor demand; it matters when other states are screwing up, and that everybody will likely be on various degrees of lockdown at different times. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

The prediction I am most comfortable making right now is that – if crowded beaches and assaults on state capitols are any indication – this will not go smoothly.

On some level, any strategy we choose represents a trade-off between the benefits of absolute containment – which, by the way, is completely possible if we wanted it, seeing as we're isolated in the middle of the desert (Do you know what's inside Area 51?) – and both the potential for income and associated risks that come with opening the Strip. And how much risk we are taking in opening the Strip to tourists depends largely on our level of control over who comes here, and under what conditions.

The truth is that if we are doing this right, the Strip does not open before Nevada has an agreement with the other Western pact states regarding travel restrictions. It would be a complete disaster if, for example, visitors from Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Iowa were to come to Las Vegas without qualification and infect visitors from California, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado – not to mention Nevadans. If that were to happen – and if we didn't have proper travel restrictions in place – the fault would lay squarely on the state of Nevada; the governor who let it happen; the mayor with no jurisdiction; and the casino operators who pushed hardest for the Strip to open without such a plan in place.
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Anthony Fauci and other health experts testified before the Senate today. Here are some quotes:

“If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to: ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”
--Fauci

"Will this virus just disappear? ... That is just not going to happen, because it's such a highly transmissible virus. Even if we get better control over the months, it's likely there will be virus somewhere on this planet that will eventually get back to us." - Fauci

"If you think that we have it completely under control, we don't ... I think we're going in the right direction, but the right direction does not mean we have by any means, total control of this outbreak." -- Fauci

https://apnews.com/a05c32d9a76a535238779c7eb1504613

Fauci, in a statement to The New York Times, warned that officials should adhere to federal guidelines for a phased reopening, including a “downward trajectory” of positive tests or documented cases of coronavirus over two weeks, robust contact tracing and “sentinel surveillance” testing of asymptomatic people in vulnerable populations, such as nursing homes.

“If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines...then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country,” Fauci wrote. “This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”

Other senior health officials scheduled to testify before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee will also appear via video link after going into self-quarantine, following their exposure to a White House staffer who tested positive. The chairman of the committee, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, also put himself in quarantine after an aide tested positive. He’ll participate by video, too.
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Los Angeles County Officials Recommend Stay At Home Orders Be Extended Until August
https://abc7news.com/los-angeles-shetler-in-place-la-county-sheltere-coronavirus-ca-covid-19/6176163/

Los Angeles County officials are recommending that the stay-at-home order be extended for the next three months as the region continues efforts to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

At a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, county Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said the order will "with all certainty" be extended unless there is a "dramatic change to the virus and tools at hand."
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The Risks - Know Them - Avoid Them
https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them

This was shared by a fellow VMBer. It's a good breakdown of the risks to this virus and how to avoid them.

It seems many people are breathing some relief, and I’m not sure why. An epidemic curve has a relatively predictable upslope and once the peak is reached, the back slope can also be predicted. We have robust data from the outbreaks in China and Italy, that shows the backside of the mortality curve declines slowly, with deaths persisting for months. Assuming we have just crested in deaths at 70k, it is possible that we lose another 70,000 people over the next 6 weeks as we come off that peak. That's what's going to happen with a lockdown.

As states reopen, and we give the virus more fuel, all bets are off. I understand the reasons for reopening the economy, but I've said before, if you don't solve the biology, the economy won't recover.

There are very few states that have demonstrated a sustained decline in numbers of new infections. Indeed, as of May 3rd the majority are still increasing and reopening.
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But where are people contracting the infection in the community? I regularly hear people worrying about grocery stores, bike rides, inconsiderate runners who are not wearing masks.... are these places of concern? Well, not really. Let me explain.

In order to get infected you need to get exposed to an infectious dose of the virus; based on infectious dose studies with other coronaviruses, some estimate that as few as 1000 SARS-CoV2 viral particles are needed for an infection to take hold. Please note, this still needs to be determined experimentally, but we can use that number to demonstrate how infection can occur. Infection could occur, through 1000 viral particles you receive in one breath or from one eye-rub, or 100 viral particles inhaled with each breath over 10 breaths, or 10 viral particles with 100 breaths. Each of these situations can lead to an infection.
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How much Virus is released into the environment?

A Bathroom: Bathrooms have a lot of high touch surfaces, door handles, faucets, stall doors. So fomite transfer risk in this environment can be high. We still do not know whether a person releases infectious material in feces or just fragmented virus, but we do know that toilet flushing does aerosolize many droplets. Treat public bathrooms with extra caution (surface and air), until we know more about the risk.

A Cough: A single cough releases about 3,000 droplets and droplets travels at 50 miles per hour. Most droplets are large, and fall quickly (gravity), but many do stay in the air and can travel across a room in a few seconds.

A Sneeze: A single sneeze releases about 30,000 droplets, with droplets traveling at up to 200 miles per hour. Most droplets are small and travel great distances (easily across a room).

If a person is infected, the droplets in a single cough or sneeze may contain as many as 200,000,000 (two hundred million) virus particles which can all be dispersed into the environment around them.

A breath: A single breath releases 50 - 5000 droplets. Most of these droplets are low velocity and fall to the ground quickly. There are even fewer droplets released through nose-breathing. Importantly, due to the lack of exhalation force with a breath, viral particles from the lower respiratory areas are not expelled.
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Symptomatic people are not the only way the virus is shed. We know that at least 44% of all infections--and the majority of community-acquired transmissions--occur from people without any symptoms (asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people). You can be shedding the virus into the environment for up to 5 days before symptoms begin.
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Ignoring the terrible outbreaks in nursing homes, we find that the biggest outbreaks are in prisons, religious ceremonies, and workplaces, such as meat packing facilities and call centers. Any environment that is enclosed, with poor air circulation and high density of people, spells trouble.

Some of the biggest super-spreading events are:

Meat packing: In meat processing plants, densely packed workers must communicate to one another amidst the deafening drum of industrial machinery and a cold-room virus-preserving environment. There are now outbreaks in 115 facilities across 23 states, 5000+ workers infected, with 20 dead. (ref)

Weddings, funerals, birthdays: 10% of early spreading events

Business networking: Face-to-face business networking like the Biogen Conference in Boston in late February.

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The reason to highlight these different outbreaks is to show you the commonality of outbreaks of COVID-19. All these infection events were indoors, with people closely-spaced, with lots of talking, singing, or yelling. The main sources for infection are home, workplace, public transport, social gatherings, and restaurants. This accounts for 90% of all transmission events. In contrast, outbreaks spread from shopping appear to be responsible for a small percentage of traced infections.

Importantly, of the countries performing contact tracing properly, only a single outbreak has been reported from an outdoor environment (less than 0.3% of traced infections).
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Indoor spaces, with limited air exchange or recycled air and lots of people, are concerning from a transmission standpoint. We know that 60 people in a volleyball court-sized room (choir) results in massive infections. Same situation with the restaurant and the call center. Social distancing guidelines don't hold in indoor spaces where you spend a lot of time, as people on the opposite side of the room were infected.

The principle is viral exposure over an extended period of time. In all these cases, people were exposed to the virus in the air for a prolonged period (hours). Even if they were 50 feet away (choir or call center), even a low dose of the virus in the air reaching them, over a sustained period, was enough to cause infection and in some cases, death.
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While I have focused on respiratory exposure here, please don't forget surfaces. Those infected respiratory droplets land somewhere. Wash your hands often and stop touching your face!

As we are allowed to move around our communities more freely and be in contact with more people in more places more regularly, the risks to ourselves and our family are significant. Even if you are gung-ho for reopening and resuming business as usual, do your part and wear a mask to reduce what you release into the environment. It will help everyone, including your own business.
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Wynn/Encore has updated their Plan for Reopening and released a new version. I have not had time yet to go through and compare the changes, but I hope to get to that soon. For those of you who are curious, here is the link:

https://www.visitwynn.com/documents/Wynn-Health-Plan.pdf

And last, but definitely not least. Are you looking for a new background for your Zoom Meetings? How about the Neon Museum?
https://www.neonmuseum.org/the-collection/blog/neon-museum-zoom-backgrounds

They have several backgrounds to choose from and instructions on how to set them up for use with Zoom.

Sonya · May 12, 2020

Oops.. couple more.

Arizona Casinos to Reopen May 15th:

Harrah's Ak Chin in Arizona to open May 15th 9am.
https://www.caesars.com/harrahs-ak-chin/casino/re-open

The Ak-Chin Tribal Council has approved the re-opening of Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino, effective 9 am on Friday, May 15, 2020.

Harrah’s management has put in place a variety of social distancing measures for the well-being of casino guests and employees. These include:

The casino floor will be open with slot machine banks arranged to allow for proper social distancing and with limited seating at Blackjack tables.

The Poker Room, Keno and Bingo will not be open at this time.

Hand-sanitizing stations throughout the casino floor, masks for all employees and increased cleaning service in all common areas and throughout the back of the house.

Dunkin®, Copper Cactus, Chop, Block & Brew, and Agave's will be open for food/beverage service, with social distancing protocols in place. The Buffet, Oak & Fork and Laurel Lounge will not be open at this time.

Based on the number of guest reservations, the resort and tower guestrooms will also open on May 15 for stays beginning that evening.

Additionally, The Events Center at Harrah’s Ak-Chin, including all events and conference, Valet and The Spa and Fitness Center will remain closed at this time.

“Over the past several weeks the Tribal Council, along with Caesars management, have been monitoring the situation here in Arizona and across the country, making sure we had the best and most accurate information needed to re-open the casino,” said Robert Livingston, general manager of Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino. “We look forward to welcoming back our casino guests in the coming days.”
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Gila River and Wildhorse Pass will also open May 15th, but at 12 noon.
https://playatgila.com/reclaim-your-fun/

It’s time to reclaim your time, freedom and fun. We’ve taken extensive measures to ensure the safety of our guests.

Physically distant slot floor including new non-smoking slot machine sections

Plexiglass installed in key areas including the cashier cage, Players Club and select dining venues

New Cleaning Ambassador program for increased sanitization

At Gila River Hotels & Casinos, your safety and comfort are our #1 priority.

We can't wait to see you, do you!
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And another interesting article from Fodors Travel:
What the Hell Is Happening in Vegas? Can It Actually Reopen Safely?
https://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/nevada/las-vegas/experiences/news/what-the-hell-is-happening-in-vegas-can-it-actually-reopen-safely

Can a city based entirely on tourism survive a pandemic?

While the world is coming apart at the seams due to a global pandemic making us all collectively go crazy, there remain places that have been hit worse than others. New York, London, Wuhan, and Italy have all been decimated by COVID-19, with city resources being stretched to the limits. But one city has a different problem. Las Vegas has been left to question: What happens to a city whose entire claim to fame is tourism and crowds?

Las Vegas has some very unique challenges ahead of it. How do you social distance on a dance floor at a nightclub? How do you have a drink at a table while wearing a mask? And how do you regulate the $7.99 buffet (hopefully they’re gone forever)?
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As the lifeblood of the city, the casinos are faced with unique problems. If you think about every aspect of these resorts, you’ll begin to slowly realize that reopening safely is near impossible. Think about every slot machine handle, every cocktail glass, every concert venue, every pool party, every bar and restaurant, every craps table, every smoker, every hotel room—you’ll begin to understand the daunting nature these businesses are forced to confront.
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Even with all these measurements in place, we still have to ask: Does any of this matter if people are still too afraid to fly, can’t see a Vegas show, and can’t grind at a nightclub? Does separating people by a few feet while they gamble simply create an illusion of safety?

Here are the people on the ground and what they have to say about all of it.
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The Publisher:

Brian Greenspun is the publisher of the vaunted Las Vegas Sun, which has been publishing a daily newspaper in the city since 1950 and looks at the situation through optimistic, yet realistic glasses.

“I’m the biggest cheerleader for Las Vegas that I’ve ever met, and I think it’ll be different for a long time,” Greenspun said. “I do think when people think it’s safe to come here, they will come here. People love Las Vegas. But we rely on people from other places to make our economic engine work. While 100% of the town is not attached to that tourist engine, most of it is. In other words, when the hotels are closed, no one is really working. Nothing is happening.”
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Though it’s nearly impossible, I asked Greenspun to prognosticate on what will happen in the coming months in the city.

“If you were to talk to most of the hotels, they’re not looking to flip the switch and reopen on May 16. My guess is that you’re gonna see casinos hold a fraction of what they used to hold. I’m sure the hotels will be as careful as they possibly can, to not only take care of their employees, but their guests. And then we’ll have to figure out if it’s working. And that won’t happen on May 15. I don’t think you’re going to see the Electric Daisy Festival. You’re not going to see Jennifer Lopez in concert. You’re not going to see the day clubs and nightclubs. You’re not going to see the crowded restaurants. You’re not going to see any of that for a good while.”
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The University Instructor:

Michael Schoenberger is an instructor who teaches travel and tourism at the College of Southern Nevada. He teaches courses on special events, putting on concerts, and organizing conventions that can deal with upwards of 150,000 people. From Schoenberger’s perspective, the city might be irrevocably changed.

“How do you maintain the Vegas experience with the idea of social distancing?” asked Schoenberger. “If you take away the clubs and bars, would you even want to go? And if you think about gambling, in the 1960s, Nevada was your only option. But that’s not the case anymore. Why would you go to Vegas with hundreds of thousands of people when you can go to your local casino?”

“If you’re a casino in Vegas, you now need to have 20 guys on the floor just disinfecting everything. So, their costs are going way up but revenue is way down. Now maids can do fewer rooms on shifts because they have to do deep cleaning. Can you charge enough money to offset these costs? In two years, things may be back to normal, but only if there’s a vaccine. Vegas is still going to be a sad place a year from now. Six months from now, big companies will be filing for bankruptcy unless there’s a miracle.”
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The General Contractor:

While most people I spoke to seem to think closing Vegas down makes sense for the long run, Sean Baker, a general contractor who works in construction on casinos and other restaurants and entertainment venues, feels much differently.

“Our freedoms are being challenged,” said Baker. “We’re Americans and we live here with the privilege of freedom and our freedom has been taken away from us. We’re the essential workers keeping the country limping along and then we have the House of Representatives refusing to come to work. And that’s tough for me. We should be able, as Americans, to make our own decisions.”
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“I think there’s a huge overreaction. I think people are aching to come and so excited to get back here because of what Vegas is. It’s a release from the normal lives people have. But if they stay closed, I think there will be protests everywhere. The whole idea of the quarantine and social distancing is completely contradicted by allowing you to go to the grocery store. On one side you’re being told to social distance and then the next breath you can go out to a grocery store. It’s all starting to piss people off because we can’t make sense of this.”
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The Supply Chain Specialist:

Kevin Ball is the Chairman of the Board of the Epicurean Foundation that provides scholarships to students who want to work in the hospitality and culinary worlds. But he’s also a consultant who helps businesses streamline their supply chains. This crisis has kept him very busy, and Ball has a unique, front-row seat to the changes in store for the city.

“Basically, we’re trying to figure out what occupancy will look like from a liquor perspective and food perspective,” said Ball. “And you’re going to see casinos half full. In 2019 the strip brought in $18.9 billion. That will be cut in half, and that’s if they all open at once. But MGM is only opening a few hotels. And I have heard that nightclubs probably won’t open for the rest of the year. How do you social distance a nightclub on the dancefloor? As for shows like Cirque, all shows are shut down for June. So, maybe they reopen in July at 50% capacity? I see them producing only half the shows.”
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The Restaurant Marketing Consultant:

Eric Gladstone is the owner of The Feast of Friends and is a marketing consultant to mostly independent restaurants off The Strip. He also runs an event called Un-Stripped, which is a celebration of independent chefs in Vegas, that had to be rescheduled. Gladstone’s perspective is from the non-casino restaurant world, but he still understands that if the casinos are empty, his restaurants will be as well.

“From my perspective, the trend has been shifting away a bit from the strip to the city as a whole,” Gladstone revealed. “That said, it’s still predominantly a tourist destination and everything is still influenced by what happens at the resorts because of people’s incomes. That’s why it’s more complex here than other cities when you reopen. The difference here–if you open it up, will anyone show up? It doesn’t serve any of these casinos to staff up and go to all the expense and effort to operate if they don’t get people coming under any conditions. And then how do you create a sense of safety?”
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The Cocktail Waitress:

Because she works at one of the top casino resorts in Vegas, this cocktail waitress has asked to remain anonymous. For the sake of the piece, we’ll refer to her as Jen.

As a cocktail waitress, Jen’s biggest concerns are about worker safety and how to do her job if social distancing measures are implemented.

[quote“Vegas is a place with no restrictions and people let their hair down. But from the worker perspective, even though the money is great, it’s also a little scary,” said Jen. “As a cocktail waitress, we’re charged a tip allocation and we pay taxes on the tips we make. A lot of these venues that are opening are only able to allow people to come in at 50% capacity. Is it cost-efficient to even come to work? Vegas is about energy, and the restrictions kill the energy which kills the enjoyment. People come to Vegas for fun and to pretend and live out their alter-egos but COVID-19 takes that away because you can’t escape what you left.”

On the positive side, Jen’s employer seems to be doing the right thing by her and her colleagues. “I think the casinos have done a decent job of protecting the customers and employees, but I think there needs to be a vaccine. If we don’t feel comfortable, there’s no penalty for us to not come back. Some just want to go back to work and don’t see the dangers and some people feel like it’s too soon. The good thing is that we’re under culinary insurance and have good healthcare where we’d be able to get treatment and are offered free testing if we need it.”
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Mostly though, Jen is worried. Worried about people coming back from all over the world. Worried about the saliva on a cocktail glass. Worried about people taking off masks to smoke. And worried that everything might open too quickly.

“I think overall, opening sounds great. I miss work and want to go back to work, but it’s really one of those things where we might be opening too soon when we interact with hundreds of people a day from different cultures and places. We can be an incubation of disaster.”
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Sonya · May 14, 2020

Sorry, I ran out of time today to do this update, so I'm going without sleep, apparently.

TI has released their plan for reopening:
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/treasure-island-announces-health-safety-policies-ahead-of-tentative-may-22-reopening/

Treasure Island Las Vegas (TI) announced policies Tuesday that focus on the health and safety of guests, visitors, and staff as it continues plans to safely reopen to the public on May 22. Policies outlined for guests include social distancing, using personal protective equipment, washing and sanitizing hands, along with any other guidelines displayed on its property signage.
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They still have a tentative opening date of May 22nd, although they say that is subject to change.

Here is the Guest Policies:

GUEST POLICY AND PROCEDURES

Social Distancing

Guests are advised to practice physical social distancing by standing at least six (6) feet away from other groups of people while standing in all public areas, and limiting elevator occupancy to four (4) people. In the event guest issues may arise, TI Security will be contacted to immediately advise guests of the property’s social distancing rules. In addition, plexiglass shields are placed in locations in which frequent face-to-face interactions may take place such as the front desk, cashier stations, etc.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Single-use masks will be available at the front desk and at other various locations on property for guest use.

Confirmed Room Sanitization

TI housekeeping ensures thorough cleaning of all rooms and suites on a daily basis. To ensure all guests are confident their accommodations have been properly sanitized, a sign will be placed in the room or on the door to confirm all cleaning protocols have been completed.

Hand Washing

All public TI restrooms are equipped with touch-free faucets, soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers, and hand blowers. TI encourages guests to follow the handwashing recommendations from the CDC and SNHD by thoroughly washing hands for a minimum of twenty (20) seconds with soap and warm water.

Hand Sanitizers

Touch-free hand sanitizer dispenser stations are positioned in high-traffic locations including but not limited to restaurants, casino floor, front desk, elevator lobbies, pool entrances, and theatre entrance. In addition, personal hand sanitizers are available to guests in various locations on the property.

Touch-less Environment

TI has made efforts to remove as many touchpoints as possible including, but not limited to, designated entry/exit door with automated opening devices and/or door attendants, replacing frequently used room amenities with one-time use items, offering alternative payment methods, and other efforts to limit contact points.

Property Signage

Communications are posted around the property to remind guests on how to maintain proper hygiene, including instructions on handwashing, how to avoid touching your face, how to cover coughs and sneezes, how to properly wear and dispose of PPE, and social distancing policies. In addition, floor decals will advise guests where to queue in accordance with social distancing standards.
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More details on the plan can be found on their website here - https://treasureisland.com/COVID-19

Penn National (Tropicana M Resort) Announce Opening Plans

A letter was sent out to clients from Jay Snowden the CEO of Penn National Gaming.

Sorry if the images I got are a little hard to read. Basically he says that Louisiana might be the first to open on May 18th, but could be limited to 25% occupancy.

Same basic health and safety plans. Social distancing, spacing markers in places people will need to line up. Buffets closed. Entertainment closed. Limited seating at tables, and spacing for slot machines. Employees required to wear masks, and guests "encouraged" to wear them.

They also say they are extending rewards benefit period so you get a full 12 months. But that's about the extent of the details on that in the letter.

Nacho Daddy is Requiring Employees to Sign a Waiver to Return to Work
https://vegas.eater.com/2020/5/13/21256941/nacho-daddy-restaurant-covid-19-liability

Employees returning to work at Nacho Daddy must sign a letter that waives their legal rights against the company. One employee tells 13 Action News that she was fired for posting the letter on social media. Nacho Daddy owner Paul Hymas says that posting the letter went against the company’s social media policy. Hymas tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the letter absolves the company of liability if employees catch COVID-19
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CET Has Released A Video To Assure Guests of Safety Measures
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/caesars-entertainment-releases-video-to-assure-guests-of-safety-measures-being-taken/

Caesars Entertainment released a video that assures future guests of the precautions the company is taking to assure a safe visit.

The two-minute YouTube video opens with CEO Tony Rodio saying the company has developed a new way of operating in light of COVID-19 and guest should be prepared for those changes. The video highlights some of the changes which include social distancing, increased cleaning and sanitation, hand sanitizer stations and face coverings for employees. The video also recommends that visitors wear face coverings.

“We are determined as every to deliver fun environments with the same level of friendly service you have come to expect from our resorts,” Rodio said.
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Here is the video:

Sonya · May 14, 2020

Rampart Casino Lays Off Employees via Recorded Call
https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/rampart-casino-lays-off-employees-with-recorded-phone-message-audio-2027681/

On Tuesday, an unknown number of Rampart Casino employees received a call with a recording from the property’s vice president, telling them they had been permanently laid off.

“We’ve made the very difficult decision to terminate your employment,” said a recording of Michelle Bacigalupi, vice president and general manager of Rampart Casino at the Resort at Summerlin. “We’ve tried to retain our entire team. However, with the continued uncertainties, we are no longer able to do so.”

Layoffs are effective May 15, according to a voicemail recording of the message obtained by the Review-Journal.
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I know I heard a few days ago that JW Marriott employees got a letter saying they are laid off, but this is a ... uh... choice. Not a great look for such a small casino.

Travelers Upset over Airline Cancellations and Refunds
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/travelers-upset-over-lack-of-airline-refunds-due-to-covid-19/

If an airline cancels your flight, you have the option for a refund. However, if you cancel a flight, there are different rules. That has travelers frustrated especially since many have canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are passengers who are still waiting for refunds. In some cases, airlines are offering passengers vouchers for future travel.

Consumer Reports and U.S. PIRG, which is the Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups, announced the delivery of petitions to airlines, calling on them to provide customers with a full refund for canceled flights during the COVID-19 crisis.

The industry received a $50 billion taxpayer funded bailout, as part of the CARES Act, passed by Congress. Many passengers say they deserve a refund if they canceled their flights because of virus concerns.
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Nevada Independent is taking their 7th look at the numbers in Nevada:
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/coronavirus-contextualized-7th-edition-exploring-through-data-covid-19-in-nevada-and-beyond

Nevada has officially started opening for business. Since Saturday, some businesses have been allowed to open their doors with strict social distancing measures and hygiene protocols in place.

Though the data show the situation in Nevada is improving, they also show that Nevada isn't out of the woods quite yet. For instance, testing has increased significantly in recent days in the state, but Nevada still ranks 39th in the nation for people tested per capita. And while the data show that cases continue to decrease week over week, experts are keeping a close eye on the numbers for a potential spike as businesses begin reopening.

According to the state's "Roadmap to Recovery," the state will remain in Phase 1 for two or three weeks — that means at least until May 25 or June 1 — while the existing reopening metrics continue to be evaluated.
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The whole thing is worth a read to see where the Covid numbers are in Nevada. Nobody has a better set of graphics than NV Indy, IMO.

And lastly for now, the CDC has an interesting case study they just published that might be of some interest to you.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6919e6.htm

The case involves a church choir in Washington State. Here is the summary:

What is already known about this topic?

Superspreading events involving SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have been reported.

What is added by this report?

Following a 2.5-hour choir practice attended by 61 persons, including a symptomatic index patient, 32 confirmed and 20 probable secondary COVID-19 cases occurred (attack rate = 53.3% to 86.7%); three patients were hospitalized, and two died. Transmission was likely facilitated by close proximity (within 6 feet) during practice and augmented by the act of singing.

What are the implications for public health practice?

The potential for superspreader events underscores the importance of physical distancing, including avoiding gathering in large groups, to control spread of COVID-19. Enhancing community awareness can encourage symptomatic persons and contacts of ill persons to isolate or self-quarantine to prevent ongoing transmission.
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This is an alarming case. Out of 61 people at the two choir practices, 53 people were sickened, including one person who showed respiratory symptoms at the second practice.

The report goes through their whole investigation and includes their recommendations given the facts of this case.

This outbreak of COVID-19 with a high secondary attack rate indicates that SARS-CoV-2 might be highly transmissible in certain settings, including group singing events. This underscores the importance of physical distancing, including maintaining at least 6 feet between persons, avoiding group gatherings and crowded places, and wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain during this pandemic.

The choir mitigated further spread by quickly communicating to its members and notifying SCPH of a cluster of cases on March 18. When first contacted by SCPH during March 18–20, nearly all persons who attended the practice reported they were already self-isolating or quarantining.

Current CDC recommendations, including maintaining physical distancing of at least 6 feet and wearing cloth face coverings if this is not feasible, washing hands often, covering coughs and sneezes, staying home when ill, and frequently cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces remain critical to reducing transmission. Additional information is available at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html.
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Sonya · May 14, 2020

Uber Announces New Safety Procedures:
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/uber-announces-new-safety-measures-amid-covid-19-pandemic/

Face covers or masks will be mandatory for everyone riding or driving with Uber. Your face cover or mask must cover your face from the bridge of your nose to your chin.

Other changes include no front-seat passengers to allow more distance between riders and drivers. Uber said this will mean that every ride will have one less passenger seat available, such as with UberX only having a maximum of 3 passengers only allowed in the back seat.
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You can find more on their website here: https://www.uber.com/newsroom/your-second-first-trip/

Wynn To Reopen Golf May 18th

Here is what they posted on their Twitter:

And an article:
https://www.8newsnow.com/sports/local-sports/wynn-las-vegas-golf-course-to-open-monday/

Wynn Las Vegas announced today it will welcome guests back to the Wynn Golf Club beginning Monday, May 18, 2020. The 18-hole championship golf course will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tee times reservations must be made in advance by calling 702-770-4653.

Summer green fees per player, per round are:  $250 for local residents, Monday – Thursday  $300 for non-locals, Monday – Thursday  $375 for all players, Friday – Sunday; no local rate
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The course’s comprehensive new health and sanitation protocols will help ensure guest safety at every point while maintaining the course’s beautiful and unique playing experience. Signature amenities remain with enhanced sanitation and social distancing measures, including the on-course food and beverage service, world-class caddie program, complimentary loaner clubs from Callaway Golf, private lithiumpowered golf carts, and much more.
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McCarran Airport adds PPE Vending Machines:

These machines can be found in T1 ticketing and near the T3 TSA checkpoint.

Prices are:
Hand sanitizer: $4.25-$6.50
10-pack alcohol wipes: $5.25
Tissues: $3.50
Reusable cloth mask: $14.50
3-pack disposable mask: $7.50
KN95 mask: $8.25
4 pack disposable gloves: $4.50

I hope some of you got to hear Dr Bright testify this morning.

Dr. Bright: "We need to be truthful with the American people. Americans deserve the truth. The truth must be based on science. We have the world's greatest scientists. Let us lead. Let us speak without fear of retribution. We must listen. Each of us can and must do our part now."

Dr. Bright: "We did not forewarn people. We did not train people. We did not educate them on social distancing and wearing a mask as we should have in January and February. All those...could have...saved more lives."

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/virus-whistleblower-warns-of-darkest-winter-if-virus-rebounds/

“Our window of opportunity is closing,” Bright says in his prepared testimony posted on the House committee website. “If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities.”
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https://lasvegassun.com/news/2020/may/14/us-immunologist-warns-of-darkest-winter-if-virus-r/

the U.S. still lacks a comprehensive battle plan against the coronavirus in critical areas including masks, testing, treatments and vaccines, whistleblower Rick Bright warned Thursday in testimony before a House committee. “Our window of opportunity is closing," he declared.
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Bright, who has a doctoral degree in immunology, said the nation's path forward that should be based on science. The steps include:

— Establishing a national testing strategy. The White House has urged states to take the lead on testing, even as the federal government pushes to make more tests and better ones widely available. Trump says the U.S. has “prevailed” on testing through this strategy, but in Congress Democrats are demanding a federal framework to encompass the whole nation.

— Doubling down on educating the public about basic safety measures such as frequent hand-washing and wearing masks in public places as guidelines indicate. “Frankly, our leaders must lead by modeling the behavior,” said Bright

— Setting up a system to fairly distribute equipment and supplies that are scarce and highly sought. Eliminating state vs. state competition would increase efficiency and reduce costs.
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Someone sent this photo of a table at Hialeah Park, in Florida:

Nevada Gaming Control Board released guidelines for reopening Restaurants:
https://gaming.nv.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=16753

A restaurant within a licensed gaming property may reopen in Phase One of Governor Sisolak’s “Nevada United: Roadmap to Recovery” if the following requirements are met:
 The restaurant complies with the requirements set forth on page 8 of the industry-specific guidance for food establishments, published by the Governor’s Office, found here.
 The gaming licensee must confirm with the Gaming Control Board whether there is a separate entrance for the restaurant, apart from any entrance to the restaurant off the gaming floor. If there is not a separate entrance for the restaurant, the licensee must articulate to the Board how it will ensure that patrons are only able to enter the restaurant from inside the property without traversing the gaming floor.
 If there is no restroom inside the restaurant, the licensee must articulate to the Board how it will ensure that patrons may enter restrooms outside of the restaurant without traversing the gaming floor.
 The licensee must confirm that it will comply with any directives or orders issued by its county commission or health district that enact more restrictive measures on reopening.  If a licensee wishes to open a restaurant pursuant to these restrictions in a county with a population of 100,000 or more, the licensee must provide the Board with a plan by which it will prevent customers from congregating outside of the restaurant prior to entry.
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Sonya · May 15, 2020

I posted this in another thread, but will repeat it here in case you didn't see it:

Governor Sisolak has a press conference this afternoon to update Nevadans on the progress the state is making.

He started off by saying that they have been in Phase One for a week and it will take at least two weeks for the data to show any effects of the early phases of opening.

So far things are going well. Hospitalizations and positive tests are decreasing over the last 3 weeks. They are continuing to work on expanding testing in the state. "Our goal is to continue reopening more of Nevada's economy in a safe and responsible manner ... but it's too early to make any determinations."

He says the majority of businesses are respecting the guidelines for reopening that he released. However, some are not and they are being watched by OSHA, regulators and authorities. He says that they are looking at taking action against noncompliance.

He encourages everyone to stay home as much as they can and to wear masks whenever they are out in public. He tells the story of Ronald Pipkins, Nevada's first COVID-19 case - a veteran who was in a medically induced coma for about a month and wanted to be around to meet his grandchildren one day. He says that you should wear a mask, if not for yourself, do it for Ron. "Wear it as a sign of respect. Wear it as a sign of love for your fellow human beings. It is a selfless act."
(I posted this article when it first came out in April, but here is Ronald's story if you missed it. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/north-las-vegas/patient-zero-in-nevadas-covid-19-fight-mending-after-month-in-a-coma-2008589/)

He was asked a question about whether casinos will be open for Memorial Day weekend. He said that they need to wait and see the data and they have no plans to open anything else in Phase One and it is too early to make any determination about when we can move to Phase Two.

Here is Nevada Independent's article about the presser:
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/sisolak-initial-signs-following-phase-1-reopening-are-positive-but-no-timeline-on-moving-to-phase-2

But the governor said it was still too early to discuss Phase 2 and additional steps to open up sectors of the economy, saying he wanted to have at least two weeks worth of health care data at hand before making a decision.

“Those decisions will be forthcoming but we need the data in order to move forward on any more reopenings,” he said.
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He also used the press conference to exhort Nevadans to wear a face covering in public. He urged those who don’t know anyone personally who has had COVID-19 to remember the story of Marine veteran Ronald Pipkins — the first coronavirus patient in Nevada who spent about a month in a coma and fought to recover because he hoped to someday meet his grandchildren.

“Wear a face covering for someone that you love, for someone that you care about … and we’ll all be able to get into Phase 2 quicker,” he said.
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Sonya · May 15, 2020

This LA Times article predicts the future of Las Vegas, talking to some experts:
https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2020-05-14/vegas-reopening-cheap-rooms-fewer-people

A very different experience will await in a city that saw 42.5 million visitors last year.

“I would say that it’s going to be quite a diminished experience for the first few weeks, if not several weeks going into July,” said Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor, a newsletter for frequent visitors. Others echo his sentiments.
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“I think it will take some getting used to,” said David Schwartz, a gambling historian at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. “It’s just going to be a different kind of experience, I think, where you’re not standing shoulder to shoulder at the craps table.”
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At its Bellagio property, for instance, “we’re only going to occupy 1,200 ... of the 4,000 rooms,” he said. “We’re only going to let presumably 25[%] to 30% of the normal visitation in the door so that people can social-distance … without being concerned that they’re overcrowded or overrun.”
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“If you want the full megillah, then you’ve got to wait. If it’s really going to bug you — that it’s not the way that you remember — then you’re not going to want to come out here in June.”

Normalcy, however, is a ways off, Hornbuckle said: “I think we’re well into ’21.... Our goal isn’t necessarily to make money. It’s to lose less money and to get people in the workforce back.”
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“I’m absolutely certain that we’re going to see some really tremendous rates,” Curtis said.
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See How Easily COVID-19 Might Spread in a Restaurant or Buffet:
https://www.8newsnow.com/coronavirus/see-how-easily-covid-19-might-spread-through-a-restaurant-in-this-black-light-experiment/

This experiment in interesting to watch. They put a substance on the hand of one person, to mimic a sneeze into a hand. Then had a small buffet and then, after 30 minutes, turned on a blacklight to show how far the substance had spread.

John Nicholls, a clinical professor in pathology at the University of Hong Kong, told CNN the video demonstrates the coronavirus’ efficiency at spreading on surfaces and to people. “I think it really highlights the need of what people have been saying about hand hygiene to stop the spread of disease,” Nicholls said.

Nicholls also noted, however, that the amount of fluorescent substance on the “infected” subject wasn’t necessarily an accurate representation of the amount of germs on someone’s hand after a sneeze.
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In a second experiment, all of the subjects washed their hands before and during eating, and workers disinfected commonly touched surfaces, according to CNN. When researchers turned on the black light, none of the “virus” had spread to the other diners.
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This photo from Hialeah Park Casino is making the rounds. I shared a smilar one yesterday.

This is apparently the set up for poker in their casino. This would be the maximum occupancy of 4 players and a dealer.

Nevada Opens Casino Restaurants to Dine In with Restrictions:
https://vegas.eater.com/2020/5/15/21259886/nevada-reopens-restaurants-inside-casinos-dine-in-service-restrictions-coronavirus-pandemic

Restaurants that open for dine-in service inside a casino will also need to follow state rules for reopening. Sisolak’s May 9 guidelines state that restaurants can only allow 50 percent seating capacity with no seating in the bar area. Sisolak encourages reservations to keep the number of people in a restaurant down, and tables must be spaced six feet apart. He said staff will need to wear masks, and he encourages customers to do the same. Pubs, wineries, bars, and breweries that serve food are allowed to reopen as long as they serve food and keep the bar area closed. Bars, nightclubs, pools, and casinos remain closed.
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Today in his press conference, Governor Sisolak was asked if this means LV Strip restaurants are opening. He said that this is meant more for the smaller casinos in outlying areas, like Ely, where their restaurants may be the only ones in town. Now I'm hungry for some BBQ at the Cellblock Steakhouse in Ely's Jailhouse Casino.

Sonya · May 15, 2020

And now for some pandemic news:

Study Finds that Areas not using Masks and Social Distancing have a 35x more potential spread
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/15/social-distancing-study-coronavirus-spread/

Areas in the United States that do not adhere to any social distancing policies face 35 times more cases of the novel coronavirus, according to a study published Thursday in a peer-reviewed health-care journal.

The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, looked at the policies mandating social distancing, and found that the longer a measure was in effect the slower the daily growth rate of covid-19, the virus’s disease. Researchers from the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Georgia State University looked at confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States between March 1 and April 27, totaling about 1 million reported instances at the time, illustrating “the potential danger of exponential spread in the absence of interventions.”
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Places with no social distancing orders were at substantially higher risk for infection.

“Holding the amount of voluntary social distancing constant, these results imply 10 times greater spread by April 27 without [shelter-in-place orders] … and more than 35 times greater spread without any of the four measures,” the researchers wrote in “Strong Social Distancing Measures in the United States Reduced the COVID-19 Growth Rate.”
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Charles Courtemanche, an associate professor of economics at the University of Kentucky, and four co-authors noted the limitations of the study. The researchers pointed to how the number of coronavirus cases are “known to understate the true prevalence of the disease, as they do not include asymptomatic carriers, those who are not ill enough to seek medical care, and those who are unable to obtain a test due to supply constraints.”
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They expressed hope that the research will provide lawmakers a resource on the benefits of social distancing as states decide how they reopen their respective economies.

“Further research is needed as gradual, untested steps toward reopening are taken across the country,” the researchers concluded.
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After rolling back shut down regulations, Texas reports single-day high in Coronavirus testing
https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/longevity/497957-texas-reports-single-day-high-in-coronavirus-deaths-two

As the state begins to reopen, Texas recorded 58 coronavirus-related deaths Thursday — the highest single-day count since the onset of the pandemic.

The Star-Fort Worth Telegram reports that there have been 116 deaths over the past three days, the most in a three-day stretch during the pandemic.

These fatalities come as Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) stay-at-home mandate expired on April 30. Retail stores have been permitted to open at limited capacity, along with restaurants and salons.
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Texas officials are considering whether to increase capacity and allow additional businesses to open, Abbot told local station Fox KRIV. Bars are among the businesses that are still closed, and the governor has received recommendations on how to safely open them again.

“We’ve got some fantastic strategies provided by bars that would lead to ways of separating people that would be able to create distancing strategies that we are running by our medical team, and hopefully we will be able to make an announcement on Monday about this,” Abbott said.
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I've seen several stories on this topic, but I think this is the first I'm seeing in the Las Vegas media market.

CDC Warns About Childhood Illness Linked to COVID-19
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/cdc-warns-about-childhood-illness-linked-to-covid-19/

The CDC issued a warning Friday about a rare childhood illness that may be linked to the coronavirus. While it’s treatable, it’s potentially deadly.

Currently, there are no known cases in Nevada but there are 200 nationwide.

“This is serious. Fortunately it has not been common but it’s very serious,” said Dr. Jay Fisher, medical director of the pediatric emergency department, UMC Children’s Hospital.
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Doctors in Nevada are on the look out for “multisystem inflamatory syndrome” also known as MISC in children.

“It unfortunately can inflame important organs of the body like the heart and brain and liver and kidneys and can injure the body pretty significantly so we have to be careful,” Dr. Fisher said.
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It’s believed the illness may be linked to COVID-19. It presents symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease.

Here’s what parents should look out for at home.

“A bright red rash that’s variable in nature. It can have swollen lymph glands, inflammation of the whites in the eyes. A lot of irritability and inflammation of the extremities and the mouth,” Dr. Fisher said.

He adds the symptoms tend to manifest themselves later in the course of the illness probably five to seven days after the infection.
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