New York State Battles COVID-19 by Closing Casinos

New York State is pulling the brake on its brick-and-mortar gambling activities, as the world is in a state of a global pandemic. This includes both the four commercial and tribal casino venues that have been welcoming patrons despite the warnings recommending social distancing. Such a move would aim to limit social gatherings involving more people in an enclosed space and possibly alleviate the situation down the road.

The past 24 hours were dynamic, to say the least, as the state announced the overall number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached the 2,382 mark. Over the past 24 hours, the surge amounted to about 1,000 new confirmed cases. Thursday saw the official closure of all amusement parks, bowling alleys, enclosed shopping malls. Casino venues and resorts have also been included in the number of locations closing for business.

Commercial, Tribal Venues Close

Social distancing is the way to go if the state is willing to flatten the curve and slow down the process of spread. The highly contagious novel coronavirus has a way of reaching many people at once, making its outbreak a geometric progression. Recommendations for breaking this progression include staying at home and avoiding social interactions with potentially contagious people that might not even know they have the COVID-19.

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Casino venues are among the popular venues for social congregations and crowd of patrons have been attracted to them thanks to the diverse gaming opportunities they feature. The summer of 2019 brought legal in-person sports wagering, which was just another intriguing gaming offering for the players to enjoy on the premises of the casino locations.

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However, this has also been the thing to put more individuals at risk of contracting COVID-19, potentially enabling the outbreak to reach its current magnitude. They were implementing improved hygiene policies across their gambling floors, but this was not enough. Gov. Andrew Cuomo made it clear that the gambling facilities would have to suspend their operation for the time being.

COVID-19 Outbreak

Resorts World Catskills is one of the commercial casinos to close for at least two weeks. Once this period is over, the management would make an evaluation and decide what to do next. Rivers Casino Resort was another gaming location to announce shutdown along with the nearby Landing Hotel, as an attempt to protect both casino patrons and the staff.

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Tioga Downs Casino and Del Lago Casino Resort were the remaining two commercial venues to close. Resorts World Casino New York City was another location also coming to a halt. It could be recalled that Empire City Casino in Yonkers was the first gaming hall to shut down while the rest of the facilities were working under more strict rules.

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As for the tribal venues, Oneida Indian Nation recently announced it is closing the Turning Stone Resort Casino, Point Place Casino, and Yellow Brick Road Casino. For the time being, there is no schedule for reopening the three tribal venues, as the situation remains uncertain. Full-time staff benefitted from two more weeks of paid time off.