Nevada guv orders 30-day shutdown of all casinos

Nevada’s governor has ordered the state’s casinos to halt all gaming operations as of midnight Tuesday to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

On Tuesday, Gov. Steve Sisolak held a press conference at which he announced a 30-day shutdown of all casinos and other ‘nonessential businesses’, which includes restaurants and bars but exempts gas stations, pharmacies, banks and grocery stores. Sisolak already ordered the closure of schools and state offices last weekend.

All gaming operations across the state must halt at midnight, while the rest of the casinos’ operations must wrap up by noon Wednesday. Sisolak (pictured far right) got a little testy with a followup question regarding whether some non-casino gaming machines might be allowed to continue operating, telling people to “stop looking for a loophole” and repeating that “every gaming device across the state” must cease operations by midnight Tuesday.

Sisolak said the state government would re-evaluate the situation at the end of the 30-day period to determine if the shutdown would be extended. Sisolak said he knew that people might think he was overreacting to the pandemic, but he said this was an “appropriate and informed reaction” because at present “there is no treatment” for COVID-19.