Last Thursday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) released a report that detailed the COVID-19 situation and its relation to the Keystone State’s workforce. According to the figures from the gaming control board just 108 coronavirus cases were reported since casinos reopened back in June from among more than 16,000 casino workers across the state. This is equivalent to less than 1 percent of the state’s casino employees.
All 12 casino operations reported cases with Lady Luck and Hollywood Casino reporting the lowest numbers of 1 and 2 cases respectively. Rivers Pittsburgh and Parx Casino led with the highest number of cases, that is, 28 and 25 cases respectively.
Thanks to the strict adherence to the health and safety guidelines, the gaming venues have been able to easily keep the infections as low as they are. Speaking on the issue, Parx Casino’s director of advertising and public relations Carrie Nork Minelli said that the venue has had over 1.4 million visitors over the past 18 weeks and just a few of their employees have contracted the virus. To make it even better, none of the employees who tested positive for COVID-19 required any kind of hospitalization.
The situation in Rivers Pittsburgh is also pretty impressive especially considering that the venue has a whopping 1,360 employees with just 28 cases. Jack Horner, the casino’s spokesperson attributed the results to the employee’s relentless dedication to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace.
As it stands, the gaming control board has not disclosed any data relating to the type of job held by the casino workers who tested positive. There is also no information on where exactly or how these employees contracted the virus.
What Next?
Needless to say, these figures are vital to how the Keystone State continues to handle the reopening of gaming venues. The adherence to the health and safety guidelines is certainly going to be very important if any more developments are to be made with regards to giving gamers more access and time at the gaming facilities.
One of the areas that remained dormant due to concerns of increased infection rates was the state’s live poker rooms. Some of these went live over a fortnight ago and so far, everything seems to be running smoothly thanks to the strict guidelines that the poker rooms have been operating under.
The same applies to the live dealer table gamers which quietly made their return to the state following a two-day test period. Within the test phase, the stakeholders found that with the right measures, everyone would be safe and healthy while enjoying their favorite table games.