Nevada casino operators fear that they could be forced to close their venues a second time as the state struggles with a resurgence of COVID-19 infections.

On Thursday, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered a number of the state’s ‘restricted’ gaming licensees – bars, pubs and other small venues that host a handful of electronic gaming machines but aren’t licensed to serve food to customers – to close their venues following a spike in COVID-19 infections in certain counties.

Under Sisolak’s Declaration of Emergency Directive 027, as of midnight Friday, restricted licensees “in a county with an Elevated Disease Transmission” – which includes Clark county, home to both Las Vegas and Reno – were ordered to close. The order will remain in effect until Sisolak orders otherwise.

All Nevada gaming venues were ordered closed in March as the pandemic took hold and the gaming sector’s reopening didn’t begin until June 4. But despite taking health & safety precautions, supplemented by Sisolak imposing a mandatory mask order for casino customers last month, the state’s COVID-19 infections have spiked, including a new daily record of 1,004 new cases on Thursday.