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Pennsylvania’s Casinos Take Every Precaution To Keep COVID-19 Under Control

Article by : Helen Nov 25, 2020

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Pennsylvania is still falling short of Nevada’s gambling industry growth rate, but it does have the advantage of recording a small number of COVID-19 cases. The latest release of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) revealed that there were only 108 positive coronavirus cases among the casino employees, which is less than 1% of all casino workers across the state. The number represents all positive cases recorded since the casino reopening in June. These include 28 positive cases in Rivers Pittsburgh and 25 at Parx in Bensalem.

Parx director of advertising and public relations, Carrie Nork Minelli, said that almost 1.5 million people visited the facility since its reopening 18 weeks ago. At the same time, only 25 employees were tested positive for COVID, and none of them required hospitalization. “Over a four-month period, our positive case rate is approximately 1.3%”, said Carrie Nork Minelli.

Rivers also has a low infection rate of only 2%. The casino management is thankful to its team for being dedicated to ensuring and maintaining a safe gambling environment. The casino representative also added: “Despite operating in the two Pennsylvania counties with the highest population densities, cases among Rivers Casino Team Members remain low.”

While still being low, the number of positive cases among employees rose from 14 in September to 44 in October, which is particularly alarming. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board claims it does not have any records on what type of job these employees are holding, as well as on where exactly they might have come down with the virus. Therefore, the PCGB refused to establish the figure citing “employee confidentiality.”

While we do not get specific information as to the positions occupied, we are aware that the total numbers do include an unknown number of employees who are not in positions which have contact with the public or work in public areas.

However, Denise L. Miller-Tshudy also pointed out that the gambling facilities turned out to be conscious in terms of keeping the spread of the coronavirus under control. The casinos are taking all the necessary precautionary measures, including keeping the mask regime, temperature control, social distancing, proper and regular cleaning of the facility, and operating with 50% of normal capacity. All these measures are included in the COVID-19 Casino Reopening Protocols, followed by all casinos after early reopening in June.

Also, almost all employees that received positive test results hadn’t been going back to work before the notification was sent to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Of course, they are not returning to their workplace until they get a negative test result and are considered to have fully recovered.

According to the PGCB’s 2019-20 Gaming Diversity Report, the 12 Pennsylvania’s gambling venues hired 9,883 employees as of June 2020, which is 6,834 jobs less compared to the end of June 2019. Some of these jobs have returned since June 2020, as the state’s gambling industry has shown great results and even reported a year-over-year increase in gross gaming revenue (GGR). This was thanks to the land-based activities being made up for by online gambling and mobile sports betting.