Nevada casinos are no longer forced to require people to wear face masks, after Thursday’s greenlight from both Gov. Steve Sisolak and the Nevada Gaming Control Board to remove the state’s indoor mask mandate.
“Effective immediately, individuals are no longer required to wear a mask in public indoor settings in licensed gaming establishments, unless a local jurisdiction still imposes such a requirement,” the NGCB said in a note to licensees on Thursday, referring to Sisolak’s Emergency Directive 052. “If a licensee is subject to a local jurisdiction’s requirement relating to masks, the board expects full compliance from the licensee.”
Industry Notice 2022-11: Emergency Directive 052 (update on mask mandate): pic.twitter.com/dE8StBDGeG
— Nevada Gaming Control Board (@NevadaGCB) February 10, 2022
Masking in Nevada’s gaming establishments had been the board’s purview and not the governor. “We have seen a rapid decline in case numbers coupled with declining hospitalizations; a drop of COVID-19 detected in wastewater, and a broader availability of testing and available treatments,” Sisolak said during a news conference Thursday, streamlined via YouTube.
The moves come just 72 hours before Sunday’s Super Bowl, where the American Gaming Association expects a record 31.4 million American bettors for an estimated $7.61 billion handle, up 78% from last year. And those numbers were released before the Governor’s announcement.
Given all of these updates and the tools we have, now is the appropriate time for me to announce that Nevada will rescind our mask mandate, effective immediately.
— Governor Sisolak (@GovSisolak) February 10, 2022
MGM Resorts International President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle said masks wouldn’t be required for guests or employees at its properties in Nevada and several other states where mandates have been lifted. “Like you, I’m excited to see things beginning to return to normal after more than two long years,” Hornbuckle said in a letter to employees. “I’m also excited to see your faces again, as well as the faces of our guests. It’s been too long.”
The Strat believes the end of the mask mandate will help Las Vegas get to full recovery. “It sends a big message that we are ready to get back to group business and normalcy,” said Stephen Thayer, VP and GM of The Strat, as reported by KLAS. “It’s been very confusing as to what the rules were. This makes it feel again like it’s normal.” Thayer added he believes the end of the mandate will help attract guests to conventions and motivate crowds to entertainment venues.
“We’ve done vaccinations events at Circa for the past four months,” Derek Stevens, CEO and owner of the D Las Vegas and Circa, said. “For people who want to take the masks off, we are going to let them. For people that want to keep them on, that’s their prerogative.”
Both properties and venues said any employee or guest who chooses to keep the mask on will be respected.
Sisolak had come under increasing pressure as other states lifted their mask mandates. Nevada was one of a half-dozen states left with a mandate.
Sisolak revived mask mandates last July, during a wave of the delta variant, under a state emergency order he first issued in March 2020. The rule required people in counties with high COVID-19 transmission rates to wear masks in indoor public spaces, consistent with CDC guidelines. Sisolak said the CDC guidelines no longer would be binding in Nevada under the new executive order he signed Thursday.
“I want to be clear, the emergency is not over,” Sisolak said. “The pandemic is not over. We’re still getting far too many cases, far too many hospitalizations and far too many deaths.”
In December, Nevada hit more than $1 billion in winnings for the 10th straight month, as the state continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic. The state’s casinos reported an all-time record $13.4 billion in gambling revenue in 2021. Casinos won $1.15 billion in December 2021, which represented a 68% increase over December 2020. Michael Lawton, a senior research analyst for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, says that revenue increased last year across all areas of Nevada, with 11 out of 18 gambling markets setting gambling revenue records in 2021.
