Chris Boline
While it feels like we’ve seen the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world, that doesn’t mean there still isn’t plenty of concern. The new Delta variant has come in of late, increasing the positive cases of the Coronavirus across the globe. As you might have been able to guess, this has affected Las Vegas. With that said, the new Las Vegas mask mandate doesn’t impact casino visitors moving forward.
Last week, it was announced that the Clark County Commission had voted in favor of a new mask policy that will require employers to make their employees wear masks. This will be the case at stores, malls, clubs, and other similar kinds of venues. The thought was that this would also be implemented for people who step into casinos and make bets.
However, it’s been decided that casinos, for now, will not be forced to require their patrons or employees to wear masks. With this happening, it will be on tourists or people gathering at the specific casinos they decide to place wagers at, to mask up or not. At the end of the day, the workers at other venues will need to follow the new protocols, but casinos will be left to make their own minds up.
“We have to do something, ” Commissioner Jon Gibson said last week. “We can’t afford to allow hospitals to become more worse in terms of their crowding and we cannot afford to have this economy suffer in the slightest. We have already been through a shutdown and a startup. We cannot afford to have major conventions choose to go elsewhere.”
NEW: Las Vegas will have a mask mandate from tomorrow, but only for employees of businesses when they're working in public spaces
— BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) July 21, 2021
Las Vegas COVID cases continue to rise
Unfortunately, the Las Vegas COVID cases continue to rise, which really put a lot of pressure on Gibson and the other elected officials in Clark County to make some kind of a decision here. The absolute last thing anyone wants to see is for things to get so bad that Vegas – and anywhere else in the world for that matter – will need to go into any kind of another shutdown.
When the pandemic was in full swing, it cost the city and county millions of millions of dollars when casinos and other businesses were forced to close down. Not only that, countless people lost their jobs and several small businesses were not able to open their doors back up. It was truly heartbreaking to see for everyone.
Because of that, Gibson and Co. are keeping their eyes open to what’s going on with the new Delta variant and they’re driving down all the avenues needed to make sure they can help stop the spread of the virus. As things stand, the county’s latest figures showcase a positivity rate of nearly 14 percent. That number also is incredibly concerning.
On top of that, there were nearly 900 positive COVID-19 cases alone last Tuesday. That’s a number that officials hadn’t seen in a while, which of course is going to bring up plenty of concern. Remember, with this new mandate, tourists on the strip are not required to wear masks, though they certainly are being encouraged to do their part in trying to help prevent the spread of things.
The Clark County vaccination rates are on the upswing
The good news here is that the Clark County vaccination rates are on the upswing. According to ABC news, more than 42 percent of people in the county have been vaccinated. That’s most definitely a strong start, though the hope is that more and more people will come forward and get the shots. They’re readily available for folks to get them.
In the United States as a whole, it’s estimated that roughly 49 percent of the population has been vaccinated. President Joe Biden has been calling for Americans to unite and get themselves vaccinated so the country can try and get things back to normal like they were before all of this started. Slowly but surely, rules and regulations are being lifted across the board.
However, due to cases going up again, Clark County doesn’t want to take any chances. What’s really caused a problem here is that employers will have to mask up regardless of if they’ve been vaccinated or not. Those who have been vaccinated have complained, but again, the county is adamant about having everyone take the necessary precautions right now to try and help things out as a whole.
“I support the Clark County Commission for using their local authority to issue this mitigation measure amid significant community transmission in Southern Nevada and as we continue our joint effort to increase access and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines,” Nevada governor Steve Sisolak said in a Twitter post.
How long will this new mandate for masks last?
The question folks want to know is how long will this new mandate for masks last? Well, according to Gibson, this new mandate will be under control through Aug. 17. Once that new date arrives, things will then be re-evaluated to see where the county and Las Vegas stand. This order isn’t set in stone for the rest of the year, which is what many people were worried about. If you use online sports betting sites instead, you have nothing to worry about.
Instead, the county wants to see if having workers (not tourists or people/workers inside of casinos) wear their masks can help bring the positive rates down a little bit. With things continuing to go up, Gibson was put in quite the predicament. At the end of the day, however, this mandate will be up for around three weeks. We’ll see what happens after that. Be sure to follow betting news from around the country
