Wynn Las Vegas CEO Matt Maddox talks with Gov. Steve Sisolak during a tour to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Wynn Las Vegas guests gamble at their tables while Gov. Steve Sisolak tours the casino to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Gov. Steve Sisolak, left, and Wynn Las Vegas CEO Matt Maddox bump elbows during a tour to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Wynn Las Vegas employees clean the plexiglass at one of their tables while Gov. Steve Sisolak tours the casino to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A Wynn Las Vegas guest gives an elbow bump to Gov. Steve Sisolak during his tour to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Gov. Steve Sisolak walks beside Sandra Morgan, chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, as they tour Wynn Las Vegas to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Gov. Steve Sisolak looks to Sandra Morgan, chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, as she answers a few questions during a tour Wynn Las Vegas to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Gov. Steve Sisolak gives a thumbs up to casino guests during a tour with Wynn Las Vegas CEO Matt Maddox to talk and view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Wynn Las Vegas CEO Matt Maddox, left, talks with Gov. Steve Sisolak and Sandra Morgan, chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, during a tour to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Gov. Steve Sisolak answers a few questions during a tour at the Wynn Las Vegas to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Gov. Steve Sisolak, right, grabs more hand sanitizer during a tour at the Wynn Las Vegas to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The garden area inside the Wynn Las Vegas is in full color as Gov. Steve Sisolak is on hand to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The men’s room urinals are social distanced inside the Wynn Las Vegas as Gov. Steve Sisolak is on hand to view their coronavirus safety measures after opening again for business on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Visitors walk along the Las Vegas Strip with a sign for Harrah’s advertising they are open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The doors are still locked and chained at Harrah’s minutes before they open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A sign along the Las Vegas Strip for Harrah’s showing the support for the Black Lives Matter campaign now that they are open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A security guard opens a door at Harrah’s minutes before they open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Guests arrive as the doors at Harrah’s are open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Guests arrive as the doors at Harrah’s are open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Staff and showgirls greet guests arriving as the doors at Harrah’s are open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Guests play craps at Harrah’s with social distancing as they are open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Slot machines at Harrah’s are staged for social distancing as they are open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Slot machines and players at Harrah’s are staged for social distancing as they are open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Slot machines and players at Harrah’s are staged for social distancing as they are open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The sports book at Harrah’s is temporarily closed as the casino is now open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A staff member and showgirl greet guests arriving as the doors at Harrah’s are open for business again following the coronavirus pandemic temporary closings on Friday, June 5, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Las Vegas casinos weren’t flooded with gamblers when they reopened Thursday after more than two months on lockdown.
But a surge of guests wasn’t expected, Gov. Steve Sisolak said Friday.
Sisolak, speaking to reporters at Wynn Las Vegas, said he and casino executives “absolutely” weren’t bracing for a massive turnout when customers were allowed back in.
The governor had ordered casinos and other Nevada businesses closed in March to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
“We didn’t expect there to be, you know, people crushing in the door,” he said.
Downtown Las Vegas had something of a burst of incomers when casino doors opened at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, Sisolak indicated. But overall, he said the early turnout was “pretty much in line with what we thought, maybe it’s a little bit higher than what we thought, and I’m proud of it.”
Not every resort in Southern Nevada reopened Thursday. Harrah’s, for one, opened at 11 a.m. Friday. Masked employees, joined by two showgirls in purple face coverings, applauded as customers entered the casino.
It had a slow start. By around 11:15 a.m., it seemed the number of employees on the casino floor well-outnumbered gamblers.
An hour or so later, Wynn Resorts chief executive Matt Maddox gave Sisolak and Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairwoman Sandra Morgan a tour of Wynn Las Vegas’ casino floor while shadowed by news media.
Nevadans are still getting infected with the coronavirus, which causes a respiratory disease known as COVID-19. But, in an interview at the Wynn, Sisolak said testing is up fivefold from a month ago, and he indicated the share of positive test results has been steadily dropping.
He also said hospitalizations are down, and usage of intensive-care-unit rooms by COVID-19 patients has fallen as well.
