New York Sets Dates For Gambling Industry Recovery

New York is one of the major epicenters of COVID-19 virus infection. While some of the countries and cities have relatively overcome the pandemic and are slowly getting back to life, New York is still on fire. The pandemic is still spreading and the number of infected people is not going down significantly. Due to this reason, many industries and businesses are still closed. People are still cautious about visiting crowded places and thus remain home and safe.

The US is having a hard time fighting the coronavirus, and especially New York is still trying to manage the whole situation. Despite the overall cases and the overall state, some of the industries shall be getting back to normal any time soon. One of the major industries which are very important for many people, both as entertainment measures, as well as employment means, is gambling.

According to recent announcements, the New York casinos are set to reopen later by the end of the week, which already indicated the significant progress in the fight against coronavirus. New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that the state’s land-based casinos will be allowed to reopen on Wednesday 9 September, subject to strict safety measures. The announcement applies to the Empire State’s four commercial casinos and racetrack casinos as well.

The casinos closed down on March 16, due to a coronavirus pandemic. The casinos have been closed for quite a while now and they had to lay off thousands of employees because of that, which meant the rise of the unemployment rate in the country.

Measures in place

While the announcement has been made that the casinos are allowed to reopen by the end of the week, there are certain regulations that have to be fulfilled for safe operation. The casinos will be limited to 25% occupancy and costumers will be required to wear face masks during their whole visiting period. They can only take off masks while drinking and eating. The costumers though won’t be able to have food and drinks on the gaming floor.

By the beginning of the legal casino operation, only the slot games hall be allowed in the casinos. Social distancing is a must though. The minimum distance between players shall be six feet. Also, all of the table games will only be permitted once the physical barriers are installed in all of the casinos. The barriers have to be approved by the New York State Gaming Commission.

The gaming regulator of the state will be in charge of monitoring the safe operation of the casino, as well as the working process of all of the employed. They shall also be checking if all of the safety obligations are being followed. Additional staff members are required to control the occupancy of the casino as well as the customer flow in the casinos. Sanitizing and cleaning regulations shall also be implemented immediately once the casinos are opened. New York’s casinos will also be required to implement air filtration, ventilation, and purification standards before they can reopen.

Governor Cuomo was the one to make the official announcement regarding the operation of the casinos. “New Yorkers have done an extraordinary job – we flattened the curve in a way that no expert thought was possible. We’ve made the determination that we can safely reopen casinos with enhanced air filtration and strict safety protocols including mandatory masks and social distancing… This is good news and the right next step in our data-driven phased reopening which is working.”

Resort World Catskills

Genting Resorts World Catskills is one of the first casinos to reopen. They are the first ones to make an announcement of reopening. The Genting Resorts shall open from the 9th of Septemeber. The casino said that they have installed the necessary barriers and are equipped with all of the necessary equipment. According to their announcement, all of the consumers shall be checked on the temperature before the entry and will be provided with the sanitizing means. Inside the casino, all of the amenities are ready to welcome the allowed amount of people.

Bob DeSalvio, president of Genting Americas East, said: “The Resorts World team has been anxiously awaiting the day when we can open our doors again to the fun and excitement that our casinos are known for.

“We have implemented a plan to seamlessly integrate the unmatched experiences in excitement, entertainment, and luxury that guests have come to expect, with the more stringent health protocols that are needed to operate safely. We are excited to play our part in Moving New York Forward.”