Massachusetts Casino will only use 25% of their capacity post-lockdown

While the US is still battling with the new COVID-19 cases, some states who have so far managed to keep the outbreak under control are starting to open up a wider range of facilities, going beyond the essential services. one of such states is Massachusetts, which has now announced a reopening of casinos towards the end of July. But just like anywhere else, opening up doesn’t mean that the establishments can continue working as they did before. Major changes are coming from every direction towards all establishments, but especially those who usually have crowds of people occupying their space at all times.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has issued clear guidelines for all the casinos that want to open up and start received guests again. All the usual are there, like wearing a face mask and maintaining social distancing, but according to the new document, the casino will only use allow 25% of the capacity that was allowed previously in the building, which is considering all the fire and building officials’ mandates.

This might completely change the experience for many who have been craving that extra social aspect of gambling. As some a predicting, casinos might look extra gloomy when most of it will be empty. But the Gaming Commission took its time with these guidelines, talking with industry and health experts about what would make for the most optimal set of rules in order to keep the customer happy but also make sure that their safety is never compromised.

According to some other points in the guidelines the games of poker, craps and roulette will be prohibited and the client will be divided by the plexiglass, a material that has become incredibly handy during the pandemic,  at blackjack tables.

As expected, the casinos in Massachusets will limit the number of slot machines and table games in the facility as well, since social distancing measures cant’ be maintained with regular table game settings.

Since the priority is making sure that people feel safe going into the casino,  the casinos will also offer complimentary face covering at the entrance. All the visitors will have to get their temperature checked and the casino will provide the hand wipes for the guests as well, along with hand sanitizer stations placed around the casino facility. According to the MGC, the casinos will regularly get disinfected, everything including the public areas along with the game machines and table games.

The pandemic definitely posed a variety of new challenges to the gambling industry and it might take longer than expected till these establishments can start generating the same income they did before the pandemic. With the be guidelines this seems downright impossible at this moment. But it seems like for casinos having even 25% of their clients back is still a big win in face of COVID-19 pandemic. Whether or not these measures will prevent future COVID spikes is still unclear since most casinos are also in the very beginning stages of opening up. Massachusets is set to welcome gamblers back into its casinos around July 13th