The rapidly expanding coronavirus, now declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, has caused global operations to come to a screeching halt. International flights to Europe from the U.S.- and vice versa- have been suspended, an entire country has been quarantined, and the death toll shoots higher and higher every day.
Some businesses have completely closed their doors until this passes; however, other companies are trying to adapt their practices in order to remain open while simultaneously lowering the risk of infection for customers. Atlantic City casinos fall into the latter category; several operators have disclosed how they plan on decontaminating their venues, in order to provide a safe, virus-free zone for players.
Let’s take a look at statements from several casinos:
- Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, owned by MGM Resorts International, has been following the guidelines set out by the Central for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC). This includes enhanced cleaning regulations, such as placing hand sanitizer dispensers in areas of the casino that gets a lot of foot traffic. They are also increasing the frequency of their disinfecting routine and making sure that at-risk areas are thoroughly cleaned.
- The General Manager of Boardwalk Hall, Jim McDonald, made a press statement that he and his staff are administering extra rounds of cleaning throughout their facility. However, McDonald also noted that approximately 30,000 people use the facility each weekend — so, in order to prevent the spread of the virus, players should make sure to heed the CDC’s guidelines.
- Tom Pohlman, who is the General Manager & Executive Vice President of Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget location, talked about how his staff has to follow good hygiene practices — as well as quarantine themselves for 21 days if they have traveled to an area where the coronavirus is rampant. Furthermore, Golden Nugget is following the same sanitization improvement procedures as the other venues previously mentioned.
These measures were enacted around the same time that the COVID-19 made its way to New Jersey. As of March 12th, 29 cases of the coronavirus had been confirmed.
Rick Cotton, the head of New York and New Jersey’s Port Authority, has a confirmed case of the coronavirus. It’s also possible that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has caught the virus as well.
With the spread of the coronavirus across the United States, Atlantic City is not the only place that is enacting such measures. Las Vegas is another area that has been upping their sanitization procedures by washing surfaces more frequently, as well as by adding extra hand sanitizer stations.