One of the tourist locations people were most anticipating to reopen after the 2019 novel coronavirus shutdown was Las Vegas. There was much discussion about how the casinos could open safely, and eventually they were allowed to welcome guests again on June 4th.
The experience of guests returning to the city was inconsistent, to be generous. Some properties took the new guidelines to heart and tried their best to keep guests safe. Others did lip service to the new rules but were lenient in letting guests bend the rules if it meant they were staying in the casinos.
If you want to read about what it was like in those days, I’d recommend this post from Miles to Memories or if you’re more into podcasts, this episode of Miles to Go compares the experience in two different casinos.
Needless to say, it wasn’t long before the powers that be decided that letting guests determine if they wanted to use masks, and the subsequent lack of mask usage, was keeping away more people than it was attracting. On June 26th, after a spike in COVID-19 cases, mask usage became mandatory in Nevada, including all public areas. Yes, even at casinos and when you’re sitting at the pool but not in the water.
I’m not about to tell you if you should make a trip to Las Vegas or not. Right now, that’s up to your willingness to risk catching coronavirus. It also may depend on if you’re forced to quarantine for two weeks once you return home.
What we all need to realize is that if the coronavirus is in Las Vegas, which it is, then the people who visit are possibly going to bring it home with them.
How much of a problem is that for us to control the spread of the virus? ProPublica wanted to find out, so they hired Tectonix, the company that uses cell phone data to track trends in population movements. Their findings comparing the times before the reopening of the strip hotels and for the two months after that aren’t surprising.
As we knew all along, what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. Sometimes it follows you home.
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
