Casinos in Miami-Dade County in the state of Florida have been ordered to close following a spike in coronavirus cases.
Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) announced the temporary suspension of casino operations at its Calder Casino in Florida.
The closure of the venue comes after Miami-Dade County Mayor, Carlos Gimenez, issued an emergency order requiring entertainment venues in the county, including casinos, to close, in order to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Calder Casino closes again
The CDI-owned venue closed its doors in March, along with nearly all casinos across the US, as the US closed non-essential businesses to help slow the spread of the virus.
In June, CDI began the process of reopening its casinos across several states with new safety measures outlined in the “CDI 360 Degree Approach to Safety.”
The safety protocols included frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces, mandatory temperature checks for staff and visitor, as well as the use of personal protective equipment for staff.
However, a month later, CDI has been forced to close the Calder venue as coronavirus cases in the county have continued to rise.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said: “I am rolling back the reopening of entertainment facilities, such as movie theaters, arcades, casinos, adult entertainment, concert houses, bowling alleys and other (indoor) establishments that have recently had their plans approved by the county.”
The closure of entertainment venues will not impact tribal-owned casino venues as they do not fall under the jurisdiction of local authorities
New measures bring introduced
Several new safety measures have been introduced in US casinos in previous weeks to help offset the impact of the virus.
Last month, casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada implemented a policy that made mask-wearing compulsory for customers playing table games.
Last month, MGM and Caesars made face masks compulsory across all of their venues in all US states.
Casinos reopening in the US
In mid-March, almost every single land-based casino in the US temporarily closed, with the exception of 16 small tribal venues, to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
At the time of writing, according to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) casino tracker, 834 casinos across the US have reopened, while 155 remain closed.
Tribal casinos were among the first venues reopen after exercising their tribal sovereignty to facilitate a phased reopening of venues in various states. When it comes to commercial casinos, casinos in Deadwood, South Dakota, were the last to close and first to reopen on 7 May.
