Casino operator Las Vegas Sands has reassured its staff that they will continue to be paid through at least Halloween despite having been furloughed due to COVID-19.

On Wednesday, Sands chairman/CEO Sheldon Adelson issued a letter to the company’s US staff in which he expressed confidence that the company’s Asian casino business was “trending in the right direction,” while acknowledging that operations in Las Vegas “may take more time to recover.”

Adelson’s letter expressed his “unequivocal belief” that the gaming industry “will get back to a regular pace at some point in the future.” COVID-19 has changed “almost everything about our daily lives,” however, Adelson stressed to his staff that “what has not changed is our commitment to you.”

Like all Vegas operators, Sands was forced to suspend operations in March as the pandemic took hold. But as it became clear that the shutdown would last longer than originally anticipated, Adelson announced that his company would be “paying every one of our nearly 10,000 employees as though they were still working.”