Casinos in Pennsylvania are once again closing due to the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases. All PA casinos will be closed from Dec. 12. until Jan. 4, and possibly longer.

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PlayPennsylvania will continue to provide updates on Pennsylvania casino closures and eventual reopenings as information becomes available.

Timeline of PA casino closures and reopenings in spring/summer

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In early March, PlayPennsylvania started reporting on the coronavirus and ways for visitors to protect themselves during visits to casinos. A live blog started on March 12 as casinos across the commonwealth began to close to slow the spread of COVID-19.

All 12 brick-and-mortar casinos closed for about 100 days before the first ones reopened their doors in June.

Timeline of closures of Pennsylvania casinos in spring 2020

• March 12: The first casino in Pennsylvania closed to stop the spread of coronavirus.
• March 17: All 12 PA casinos closed.
• June 9: The first two casinos reopened in the state — Rivers Casino Pittsburgh and The Meadows.
• 84 days: All casinos in PA were out of operation.
• July 17: Rivers Casino Philadelphia, the only remaining shuttered casino, resumed operations.
• 126 days: Amount of time from when the first casino closed to the last casino opened.

Casino health and safety protocols

When casinos reopened, things looked different. Per the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, all casinos in the state have been required to follow COVID-19 Casino Reopening Protocols, which detail the minimum safety and health-related requirements that are mandatory before reopening.

Key points to remember are:

• Casinos can reopen at 50% capacity.
• Employees and guests must wear masks.
• There are markings on the floor to promote social distancing.
• Mandatory enhanced cleaning throughout the facility.

At first, poker rooms were not authorized to operate due to players’ handling of cards and chips. But by mid-November, five of the nine live poker rooms in PA reopened.

Are casinos in Pennsylvania open?

All 12 PA casinos had to close again Dec. 12 for at least three weeks (until Jan. 4).

Dec. 16: Wind Creek will pay employees during closure

Wind Creek Bethlehem announced that during its temporary closure, it plans to pay active salaried and tipped employees.

Dec. 15: Execs asked Wolf to let casinos stay open

Pennsylvania casino executives sent Governor Tom Wolf a two-page letter on Dec. 9 asking him to not close the state’s twelve casinos in a new round of COVID-19 mitigation efforts. They cited the impact another round of closures will have on the 18,000 industry employees, vendors, tax revenue, logistics of a short-notice shutdown, and customers leaving to play in other states with still-open casinos.

Dec. 11: Penn National pleaded with Wolf; Portnoy berates politicians

Penn Live reported that Penn National execs pleaded with Gov. Wolf to keep casinos in PA open. Penn National Gaming is headquartered in Wyomissing, PA and operates two casinos in the Commonwealth – The Meadows and Hollywood Casino.

Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool, had some harsh words for New York which also shut down indoor dining. It’s fair to assume that Portnoy feels the same about Pennsylvania since they have similar restrictions. Penn National Gaming acquired a 36% stake in Barstool Sports for $163 million in cash and stock in January 2020. Penn National, through the Hollywood Casino license, launched Barstool Sportsbook in PA.

Dec. 11: Harrah’s Philadelphia memo to employees

Play Pennsylvania obtained an internal memo from General Manager Chris Albrecht to all Harrah’s Philadelphia team members.

It addressed the upcoming temporary closure and read in part:

“I want to put your minds at ease regarding your pay and benefits. The company will pay all currently active Team Members average wages through the indicated reopening date. Pay will be based on your average wage over the past 8 weeks. There will be changes in pay for salaried Team Members. For those Team Members on the company sponsored health plan, your health care and benefits will continue as normal.”

Dec 10: PGCB follows up Gov’s announcement

Shortly after Gov. Wolf announced increased mitigation efforts which included closing all casinos in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said they will be working with casinos on closing procedures.

Gaming Control Board Executive Director Kevin O’Toole says that public health and safety of patrons, casino employees and others are of paramount importance.

“The Board is continuously monitoring developments and will update licensees and the public as frequently as possible with any new developments,” O’Toole says.

The PGCB also ordered the closure of Video Gaming Terminal (VGTs) rooms located in truck stop establishments in Pennsylvania starting at at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 12. There are a total of 40 truck stop establishments and each operate the maximum allowable five machines.

The closures do not effect other forms of gaming regulated by the PGCB which include the Commonwealth’s 13 online casinos, ten online sportbook apps and fantasy contests.

Dec. 10: Casinos, indoor dining, other indoor entertainment facilities to close for three weeks starting Dec. 12.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced in a press conference Thursday afternoon that increased measures need to be taken once again to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He called the recent spikes in cases “dire,” saying the current situation is worse than what PA experienced in the spring.

All 12 Pennsylvania casinos (plus the new Live! Pittsburgh mini-casino) have been ordered to close beginning Saturday, Dec. 12. To start, the mandate runs for three weeks, with a scheduled lift date of Jan. 4.

Casinos fall in the category of “indoor entertainment industry” included in the new wave of closures. Gyms and indoor dining are also axed for the next three weeks minimum. The CDC puts movie theaters and other indoor settings on its list of higher-risk activities for contracting COVID-19.

Indoor operations at gyms and fitness facilities will be suspended.

In-person, indoor businesses in the entertainment industry that serve the public will close.

This includes casinos, movie theaters, museums, bowling alleys, and more.

— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) December 10, 2020

Also via Twitter, Wolf explained the need for the extreme measures:

“COVID thrives where people gather together. The measures announced today will target high-risk environments and aim to slow the devastating spread of the virus.”

At Thursday afternoon’s press conference Dr. Rachel Levine said:

“Each of the last two days we have reported the highest number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. In the past week, we have reported close to 1,100 new deaths from COVID-19 across Pennsylvania. The virus continues to strain our health care systems and the dramatic rise in cases among all age groups, including among school-age children, is alarming. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 37,500 cases among children age 5 to 18, yet 9,500 of those cases occurred in the past two weeks.”

Dec. 8: More restrictions coming?

Coronavirus cases continue to skyrocket in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 10,170 new cases on Tuesday. The state is now averaging 9,925 new cases a day over the past seven days. The trend in the 14-day moving average of number of hospitalized patients per day has increased by nearly 4,000 since the end of September.

On Monday, Gov. Wolf said more restrictions might be on the way. He acknowledged the ones already in place have not worked.

“If the worst happens, hospitals will not be able to treat all sick Pennsylvanians. They’ll be forced to turn away people who need treatment, and that means more Pennsylvanians will die.”

However, Wolf seemed to rule out the restrictions rolled out in the spring which closed schools and non-essential businesses like casinos.

Allegheny County, home of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, is considering a change to capacity limits.

Nov. 23: Alcohol sales axed the night before Thanksgiving

People visiting casinos on Wednesday will have to switch to water or soft drinks at 5 p.m.

As coronavirus continues to spread across Pennsylvania, Health Secretary Rachel Levineordered alcohol sales at bars and restaurants to shut down at 5 p.m. on Nov. 25. Thanksgiving eve is one of the biggest drinking nights of the year. Sales can resume at 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Governor Tom Wolf commented on the kibosh:

“Let’s forego that…just one time. And if we do that and all these other things then we are going to get back to life as we really want to LIVE AND go to bars anytime we want.

As for before and after Nov. 25, here are the rules for alcohol at casinos in Pennsylvania:

Alcohol can only be served when food is purchased, and drink service on the casino floor is prohibited. On-site consumption of alcohol must end at 11 p.m., and all alcoholic beverages must be removed from patrons by midnight.

According to a press release on Monday, the statewide percent-positivity went up to 11.1% from 9.6% last week. Every county in the state has a concerning percent positivity above five percent except for one county, Cameron County at 1.9 percent.

“This week’s data, in terms of hospitalization increase, an increase in the use of ventilators, case increase and percent positivity are worrisome,” Dr. Levine said. “Latest models show we could run out of ICU beds within a week. We know COVID-19 does not discriminate and is affecting every county in the Commonwealth.”

Nov. 20: Murphy says casinos not connected to COVID outbreaks, PA Dept comments on contact tracing and casinos

All nine casinos in Atlantic City remain open. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said there is no evidence casinos are linked outbreaks.

During a briefing on Wednesday, Murphy said:

“We believe, based on the evidence that we have, that they’ve been able to responsibly manage their casino floors. Whether it’s through (personal protective equipment), whether it’s through dividers, capacity management, temperature checks, review of symptoms checks with people who go onto the floor, which is happening in all the casinos … there is not any evidence that there is either bad management of the floor or that there is a big outbreak coming from participating on the floor.”

Casinos in Atlantic City closed from March 16 to July 2 to slow the spread of COVID-19.

PlayPennsylvania asked the Pennsylvania Department of Health if there any statistics about coronavirus cases being traced to the state’s 12 casinos.

A representative from the Department of Health commented:

“In terms of contact tracing specific to any event or specific location, we follow our contact tracing process, which includes case investigation. At this time we are prioritizing case investigations due to the high case load. We maintain regular communication with CDC but handle outbreaks locally. There is no way to determine definitively if cases track to an individual event or location. There is not current evidence from our regular case investigation and contact tracing efforts that indicates outbreaks from these events, but we will continue to monitor.”

Contact tracing, COVID-19 spread in PA

Contact tracing is the process of identifying, notifying, and monitoring anyone who came in close contact with an individual who has COVID-19 while that individual was infectious. As part of the case investigation process, the PA Dept. of Health asks the person who tests positive where they have been during their infectious period and with whom they have come in contact. All of this depends on the person providing as much accurate information as possible.

Between Sunday, November 1 and Saturday, November 7, there were 20,985 COVID-19 cases statewide and 25% of all cases had a case investigation started within 24 hours of receiving the positive report.

PJ Brennan, MD, an infectious disease physician and chief medical officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, told the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“Anecdotal and contact tracing evidence reveals that weddings, funerals, Halloween parties, and athletic activities have all been implicated in the spread of the virus. And most ominously, many of those affected do not know where they might have been exposed.”

Pittsburgh Casino New Years Eve

October revenue figures were released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday. Online sports betting and iGaming fueled a 12.87% year-over-year increase in revenue.

With casinos operating at 50% capacity, October’s gross revenue from slot machines was $154.7 million, a 17.22% YoY decrease. Table games at brick-and-mortar casinos took a tumble, too. Table games revenue in October was $63.3 million, a YoY decrease of 13.43%.

Nov. 19: Rivers Philadelphia posts farewell for now on Twitter

The well-being of our Team Members, guests & the community is our top priority. We will be temporarily closed effective Fri, Nov. 20, to follow @PHLPublicHealth’s order to close public venues. We appreciate your support!
.
Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. pic.twitter.com/HEPtOdWvXg

— Rivers Casino Philadelphia (@riverscasinophl) November 19, 2020

POKER PLAYERS! We will be temporarily closed effective Fri, Nov. 20, at 7pm to follow @PHLPublicHealth’s order to close public venues.
The well-being of our Team Members, guests & the community is our top priority. We appreciate your support! #CoronaVirusUpdatespic.twitter.com/kTOhRXPqJO

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh New Year's Eve

— Rivers Philadelphia Poker Room (@riverspokerphl) November 20, 2020

Nov. 18: Allegheny County asks residents to stay at home

The Allegheny County Health Departmentissued a stay-at-home advisory. Citing a “very concerning” rise in cases, Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen asked people to only leave their homes for work, school and essential activities like medical care or grocery shopping.

Dr. Bogen: “I don’t want to have to enforce this. We can do this without an order.”

— Amy Hudak (@amy_hudak) November 18, 2020

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh Pa New Years Eve

There’s no information yet on how the stay at home advisory might affect Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, which is currently open and operating at 50% capacity. Also, the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers who play at Heinz Field in Allegheny County in mid-October started allowing about 5,500 fans to attend home games.

Nov. 15: A rough 2020 continues for Rivers Casino Philadelphia, set to close on Nov. 20 until at least Jan. 2

The last casino to reopen in Pennsylvania will be the first to shut down during round two of coronavirus shutdowns. Rivers Casino Philadelphia will close on Friday, Nov. 20, and not reopen until at least Jan. 2, 2021, to comply with a series of changes to the current restrictions by the City of Philadelphia to slow the surge of COVID-19 cases.

“We may be tired of COVID, but COVID’s not tired of us,” said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Farley.

The city of Philadelphia on Monday afternoon announced a Department of Public Health order that imposes many business restrictions effective Nov. 20-Jan. 1, including the shutdown of casinos within the city. Rivers Casino Philadelphia is the only one within city limits for now. Live! Casino Philadelphia is scheduled to complete construction and open its new location in South Philadelphia in early 2021.

The South Philadelphia Race and Sportsbook, according to the orders, would also have to temporarily close.

Fans are also prohibited from Lincoln Financial Field again. Under the “Safer at Home” order, outdoor gatherings cannot exceed 2,000 people in any outdoor space.

Nov. 13: No plans to return to color coding for PA

PlayPennsylvania asked the PA Department of Health if the increasing COVID-19 case numbers would signal a return to the color-coded phases and possible temporary closures for casinos in Pennsylvania.

A representative responded:

“There is no plan at this time to return to the red, yellow, green mitigation steps and stay-at-home order that occurred in the spring.”

This, of course, is subject to change. Check back often for additional updates.

Lead image courtesy of Rivers Philadelphia.