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Las Vegas is looking into ways to lift coronavirus restrictions and safely reopen the world famous strip — but it’s gonna change your Vegas experience forever.
Our sources in Vegas tell TMZ … when the casinos reopen, they will absolutely have different layouts and practices, and the biggest issues on the table are cleanliness and spacing.
We’re told casinos will have to make sure gamblers don’t get too close to one another, and that means spacing out people at table games like blackjack.
The strip sees about 115,000 revelers on an average day, so the risk for spreading the virus remains high while there’s no vaccine. As a result, we’re told officials’ top priority is preventing a COVID-19 flare up.
Our sources say monumental sanitation efforts are being discussed for casinos — machines will need to be cleaned more than ever before, and they’ll need a system to sanitize playing chips, cards and dice — the 3 surfaces gamblers touch the most.
We’re told casino operators are working directly with government officials to hammer out a plan to lift restrictions and reopen the city — but there are a lot of hurdles. For instance, our sources say they haven’t even begun to tackle nightclubs.
As you know … Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak closed all the state’s casinos in mid-March to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and the order’s now in place until at least April 30. Sisolak said this week the state isn’t even close to lifting restrictions, so don’t book those flights just yet.
The Nevada Gaming Board tells TMZ … safety is a top priority, as well as protecting employees and visitors, and ideas on how to do so safely are being exchanged.
As for those famous Sin City buffets … we’re told it’s highly unlikely they’ll return to what they used to be, not for the foreseeable future. Possibly never.