Could the ‘City of Lost Wages’ persevere with half-full casinos? Las Vegas ponders its coronavirus future

On March 19, Treasure Island's electronic billboards displayed coronavirus warnings in place of upcoming shows.

(Aaron Mays/UNLV Special Collections and Archives) May 11, 2020 04:00 am PT Shared by Close Additional sharing options

Security guards walk aimlessly and cyclists pedal silently down streets once bustling with tourists and showgirls. Cleaning crews in masks and gloves spray disinfectant on rarely touched handrails, doorknobs and staircases along an eerily quiet Strip. In the desert heat, neon signs at empty casinos flash messages that read, "Stay Away."

More than seven weeks after Nevada Governor Steve Sysolak ordered people to stay home to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus, bustling Las Vegas remains one of the darkest faces of the country's pandemic crisis.

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, about 1. 5 million people visited Las Vegas in March 2020, when the crisis began, compared with more than 3. 6 million during the same period last year.

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Since casinos, hotels, shows and restaurants closed in mid-January, unemployment in Southern Nevada's leisure and hospitality industry, which accounts for 30% of the workforce, has soared.

According to the U. S. Department of Labor, about 419, 000 Nevadans have applied for unemployment benefits since the start of March. "About 40% are in the food and service industry, and most of them work in Southern Nevada," says Stephen Miller, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Without a vaccine, the city's business model - luring hordes of carefree tourists to sweaty nightclubs and shows, or repeatedly pressing slot machine buttons - seems especially risky.

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Sisolak, a Democrat, said hair salons, restaurants, open-air malls, shops and barbershops can reopen starting Saturday with strict social distancing requirements. Such businesses must limit the number of customers to 50 percent or less of capacity and require employees and customers to wear masks and stay six feet apart.

But gambling establishments, nightclubs, bars, shows and strip clubs in downtown Las Vegas will remain closed until at least May 30.

The governor's order comes after the state saw a 14-day downward trend in coronavirus cases and COVID-19-related hospitalizations.

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However, "we are not done with this fight. The coronavirus is still with us, and as strong as it was before. If we want to stay in the state we were made clear to, we have an obligation to continue taking measures to reduce the burden on the public."

The Nevada Gambling Council has not yet declared a date for the reopening of casinos, but on Thursday the appropriate advice was adopted: as resorts and hotels on the Strip begin to open, the number of guests allowed inside will be reduced (second exemption), nightclubs will remain closed until further notice, and fewer slot machines will operate. Hand sanitizing stations will be installed everywhere, and guests will be asked to wear face masks, keep a familiar attitude, and not to group around gaming tables.

In addition, there will be fewer dance floors in restaurants and bars, and any planes that employees touch, such as ATMs, casino booths, gaming tables, and restaurant dining, will be required to be disinfected frequently.

A "Treasure Times" sign stands at the closed Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. (Aaron Mays/UNLV Special Collections and Archives)

Before the epidemic began, the rate of underemployment here was one of the lowest in the country, with the statewide system of necessary amounts being within 27 billion yen.

Now, some who work on the Strip are actually talking about not having any chance to make themselves wait while they return to work.

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Nicolette Pantaleo worked as a dancer at hotels and parties at the Flamingo Casino for two years before she was fired on the 13th. According to the 29-year-old Nevada resident's text, it's from online cash courses and announcer professionalism classes in hopes of finding a job as an investment banker or dictator.

"I no longer have a desire to dance," she says. "I had a great career as a professional dancer in Las Vegas for the past 11 years. I'm grateful for the memories, but I don't take into account whether there is a future here."

In other jobs that were snatched, she says she was so busy fighting to receive unemployment benefits, for example, that she actually didn't have time to focus on the future.

"I haven't received any money from the middle. I go to sleep and wake up thinking about this," said Kit Wade, 62, who lost her job as a Bakkar dealer at one of the Strip's casino hotels. "And I basically feel what was provided to me to compare with others. I've already paid for my personal house and will finish a certain number of years. I consider people who have had the opportunity to reduce the cost of goods and see what they actually spend.

According to the Las Vegas Sightseeing and Congress Secretariat, the large cities visit 42 million people every year, selling $ 58 billion annually. Gambling from casinos, operated by strip resorts and large hotels, is $ 6. 6 billion annually.

"Las Vegas is more dependent on tourism than Detroit's automotive manufacturing," says Jeremy Aguero, an analyst of an applied analysis research company.

Stakeholders and experts say at least that casinos and hotels will not be unveiled immediately.

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The moment the governor says, "I went," millions of people would say "went." "The most likely MGM and Caesers Entertainment have a different property in the strip, start opening another hotel or casino, and see how things go."

According to a UNLV mirror monitoring, "They will recover this fall from Las Vegas, take more time at the fastest, and they will not panic than other United States."

In fact, on Wednesday, Win Resorts announced that all employment workers, hourly workers, and workers engaged in incomplete proletarian dhnec will continue to pay wages on May 31. Las Vegas Sands, which owns Benetian and Palazzo hotels, announced on April 23 that it will continue to pay the latter wage to workers at least until May 17. MGM Resorts and Caesers Entertainment managed 10 hotels along or near Las Vegas, and paid employees for the first two months of closure.

Some of Las Vegas like us spend a slow pace.

I never thought that the car would be gone from Las Vegas. A feeling of emptiness reflected in the parking lot and the casino.

(Aaron Mays/UNLV Special Collections and Archives)

A few months ago, Jacqueline Suks, who was dismissed from the Forever 21 visual production category, walked on strip for the first time in five years. Like other residents in the district, Suku avoided downtown and disordered spaces that usually overflow with booming tourists. But she was longing for tourists, but was happy to conquer and understand this place, as for a few weeks to extend them.

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"I found something that I hadn't noticed before, such as the details of the casino and the hotel architecture," Welcome to Magic Las Vegas, a 2 3-yea r-old Suku ". I pose and said only once recently.

Then there's the closure of the Bellagio fountains. On March 19, the road in front of the artificial source was emptier; the fountains had been closed three days earlier.

(Aaron Mays/UNLV Special Collections and Archives)

Below, Bellagio resident Luke Wayan poses with his wife in front of the tranquil fountain, photographed by a friend.

When will this place be empty? says the 21-year-old UNLV Institute graduate.

People who have spent much of their careers in the Las Vegas gambling industry, hosting clubs and getting into the habit of serving large numbers of gamblers as part of their daily lives. James Adkins, a security guard on the casino floor, explains that he doesn't actually have the right to reveal the title of the company he works for, but he's very, very surprised by how perfectly adapted they are.

"I don't like my job, but I'm enjoying this period of recreation.

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Adkins even acknowledges that it definitely helped that the company he works for still pays him a salary. And, since he was a fully-fledged employee, he's confident he can give back.

"I'm pretty happy," Adkins says. "I'm worried that everything will be slow for a while. When everything slowly starts to fit, I worry about the people who are not working.

Over the past two years, the number of overnight guests has been declining in turn. In fact, this year Las Vegas will overcome the lowest indicator since 1999, a figure of 35 million.

(Brian Wonder Blue / Los Angeles Times)

Locals often say that Las Vegas is successful because it can reinvent itself. From the epic recession of 2008 to its world-class performance at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in 2017, the metropolis of sin has overpowered all hardships.

How to revive personal costumes from now on - a question that is puzzling officials and experts.

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