LAS VEGAS (AP) – Six weeks ago, thousands of New Year’s celebrants gathered under the neon-lit marquees on the Las Vegas Strip – even though the big annual fireworks display was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The sight of the large crowd, including many without masks, fueled fears that COVID-19 infections would skyrocket, followed by hospitalizations and then deaths. That’s exactly what happened. January was Nevada’s deadliest month since the start of the pandemic, with 1,132 dead. December was second.
Now the virus is turning a tourist destination built for extravagance and known for bright lights, large crowds, delicious meals, and headline shows. Visitors arrive to find that some freedoms are limited and some well-known attractions are closed, but parking and bargain prices abound. Major performances and conventions are still on hold.
“We have an industry that invites people from all over the world to come here, and if they come here, unfortunately they can bring disease,” said Brian Labus, a long-term epidemiologist in the Southern Nevada Regional Health District who now health at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. “The concern is that it is spreading within our local population.”
In mid-January, more than half of the hospitals in and around Las Vegas reported that they were at least 90% full. A suburban medical center declared a capacity crisis, with more patients than beds. Almost half of the 147 beds were occupied by coronavirus patients.
Deaths in Nevada hit a one-day record of 71 on Jan. 21. On Thursday, the total death rate from COVID-19 was 4,637 since the pandemic began.
As in other cities, some overwhelmed funeral homes have used refrigerated trailers to hold the dead, interim coroner Michael Murphy said.
“It’s nothing like I’ve ever experienced in my nursing career,” said Dina Armstrong, a nurse at MountainView Hospital in northwestern Las Vegas. “Dealing with this disease is amazing – the stress and the environment.”
On the street, the result is far fewer tourists and “a completely different experience,” said Marilinda Sepulveda, a repeat visitor, as she and her husband waited to take photos next to the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign.
The Mission, Texas couple spent two nights at the Cosmopolitan hotel in the heart of the Strip. “The nightlife is: you gamble, you run, you go to your room,” Sepulveda said.
Her husband, Ozzy Benavidez, said through a cloth face mask that they would have gone to magic shows and restaurants. Instead, the couple bought take-out and ate in their room.
Some tent properties have been inactive, including the Mirage casino and the iconic man-made volcanic eruptions on the Strip.
Others, such as the Wynn Resorts property Encore, are closed during the week but open on weekends. The unused convention space in the slim, curved 2,700-room tower has been repurposed as a vaccination center managed by the region’s public hospital. Nearly 11,500 people took photos there.
At the Las Vegas Convention Center, where a massive new wing was expected to open in time for the big consumer electronics gadget show in early January, officials opened a facility for people getting their second dose of vaccine. CES was held virtual.
Up and down the Strip, from the renovated Sahara to the gleaming Mandalay Bay with golden windows, visitors have found quiet gambling floors, closed showrooms, and cheap rates.
Daniel Pangau, pastor of an Indonesian Christian church in Brea, California, thought a three-day stay at the Delano hotel for his family of six was less than half the price before the pandemic.
Tourists will find parking lots everywhere and signs reminding them to wear masks. They see the thousands of workers who still have no jobs.
When the casinos closed in mid-March, 98% of the 60,000 members of the local culinary and bartender unions were on leave. Union spokeswoman Bethany Khan said only about half are now back at work.
At least 115 union members and immediate family members have died from COVID-19, and nearly 2,000 have been hospitalized with the virus since March, Khan said.
Nevada unemployment rose from a historic low of 3.6% in February 2020 to a worst high of 30.1% in April. In December this figure had fallen to 9.2%.
From mid-March to January 30, more than 834,000 people filed initial claims for unemployment benefits, according to the state’s unemployed office. That figure is especially mind-boggling when weighed against the size of the state’s total workforce a year ago – 1.4 million people.
Visitor numbers are down more than half by 2020 – just 19 million – from 42.5 million in 2019, according to data collected by tourism, airport and gambling regulators.
Tax revenues from casinos, a major source of funds in a state with no income tax, fell 40% during the calendar year, gambling regulators reported.
Major conventions stopped completely in March and have not resumed. Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak reopened casinos in June with pandemic crowd restrictions. In November, he instituted what he called a “pause” at reopenings.
Citing progress against the virus, the governor announced on Thursday that restrictions on businesses and meetings could be relaxed over the next three months.
Casinos, gyms, bars and restaurants will increase from 25% to 35% capacity starting Monday, requiring seating limits, mask mandates and social distances. Casinos can go to 50% capacity next month. Clubs and nightclubs remain closed.
By the time the show resumes, some veteran performers may have disappeared, said Alan Feldman, a longtime casino performer who is now a fellow at the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“A toll yet to be measured is the loss of talent,” said Feldman. “To what extent have people moved on to a different career or back to school or out of the state? That has yet to be determined. “