COVID-19 Impacts Las Vegas in 2020 - Casinos to close doors

MGM Resorts Signage to close March 2020

Earlier this week, MGM Resorts in Las Vegas confirmed to TPG they temporarily closed buffets at ARIA, Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Luxor and Excalibur, effective Sunday, March 15. The changes, they said, are temporary and will be evaluated weekly.

“In a focus group about dining, several of the people mentioned they no longer feel comfortable going to buffets,” Henry H. Harteveldt, an airline, hotel and travel industry analyst, told TPG. “They don’t feel comfortable in the current environment that the hygiene is as safe as it needs to be. So, it’s understandable why we are seeing buffet options being closed down. The question is: Once health conditions return to a more normal state, will people feel more comfortable going to buffets in the future, or will these concerns be longer lasting?”

Comedian David Alan Grier responded to the devastating news, tweeting, They closed the buffet in Vegas? This s*** gettin real as a Muthaf***a now!”

Wynn already added paid sick days for employees who need to be quarantined, and says it will “continue to pay our full-time employees that work in these spaces.”

The resort also notes that it will screen guests with “non-invasive thermal cameras at all our entrances” to monitor the temperature of visitors.

“Any person registering a temperature of 100.4F or higher will be discreetly informed by a trained member of the security team and not be permitted to remain inside the resort,” USA Today reports.