“We don’t want this turning into the meatpacking industry. UNITE HERE Local 54 represents around 500 employees at Harrah’s Philadelphia, according to Donna DiCaprio, the union’s financial secretary and treasure. Friday, with Harrah’s only reopened for an hour, a socially distant queue of customers waited to pass by the contactless thermometer machine. And “high-touch gaming items” like dice, chips, and cards will be “refreshed more often,” according to guidance from Caesars Entertainment, the company that operates Harrah’s Philadelphia.Įach guest, staff member, and vendor walking onto the casino floor passes through a temperature check station. (Friday morning, a group of men craned their necks from several feet away for a look at the action at a busy craps table.) The poker room is closed down. No guests are allowed to crowd behind players. On-site dining, including Guy Fieri’s Philly Kitchen and Bar, will have reduced hours and seating. At Harrah’s, the facility is operating at 50% capacity every other slot machine is closed off, to keep people spaced out only three players are permitted at a time per blackjack table, four per roulette wheel, and six at a craps table, though that doesn’t include dealers. To protect customers and staff from transmitting the coronavirus, a number of social distancing and disinfection measures are in place inside Harrah’s Philadelphia and other casinos. Harrah’s Philadelphia General Manager Chris Albrecht speaks at the reopening of Harrah’s Philadelphia casino in Chester. It’s a relief to be back at work, Harkins said, even though she feels apprehensive about the health risks. “It’s a new normal,” said Vanessa Harkins, an entertainer on hand wearing glittering high heels, a shimmering two-piece costume, a feather crown, and a bejeweled protective face mask.

But just because the gambling halls are open doesn’t mean they’re operating like they used to. That both he and the dealer had half their faces hidden under protective masks did not faze Mills, one of hundreds of people who streamed into Harrah’s Philadelphia in the hour after it reopened its doors Friday morning in Chester.Ĭasinos across Pennsylvania have been reopening this month, and all but one are set to resume operations by next week. He’s subsisted on low-stakes online poker games, “just for some action.” But since the state ordered casinos to shut down in March to prevent coronavirus spread, he’s had no comparable outlet. “I used to come here four days a week,” he said. WHYY thanks our sponsors - become a WHYY sponsor

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