Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf enacted an govt order that compelled his state’s brick-and-mortar on line casino business to shutter for the second time for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a press release from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the state’s 13 casinos have been compelled to shut at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12. They will stay closed till no less than 8 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021.
Harrah’s Philadelphia, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, Lady Luck Nemacoin, Live! Casino Pittsburgh, Meadows Casino and Racetrack, Mohegan Sun Pocono, Mount Airy Casino Resort, Parx Casino, Presque Isle Racetrack and Casino, Rivers Pittsburgh, Valley Forge Casino and Resort and Wind Creek Bethlehem have been all affected by the order.
Rivers Casino Philadelphia was already closed on Nov. 20 after town issued a mandate that shut it down.
The mandates come as COVID-19 instances are rising everywhere in the nation and regulators are claiming that these measures are being taken as a public well being security measure.
“The Board is continuously monitoring developments and will update the licensees and the public as frequently as possible with any new development,” mentioned Gaming Control Board Executive Director Kevin O’Toole in an announcement.
Wolf shut down the state’s brick-and-mortar gaming business in mid-March because the virus made its first wave by means of the nation. The state’s casinos reopened in mid-late June, because it one of many states that took a extra cautious strategy to its reopening course of. It is without doubt one of the few states that’s forcing its casinos to shut once more.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom lately enacted stay-at-home orders for 2 areas of his state, which encompasses about 87% of the state’s inhabitants. The order closed all industrial casinos in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley.
Wolf’s transfer comes shortly after on line casino executives penned him a letter asking him to maintain the business open, according to a report from PennLive. Through simply the primary two weeks of the primary shutdown, operators misplaced nine-figures value of income and can doubtless see comparable tendencies this time round.