The coronavirus no longer exists!!! Party like it's 2019!!!!!

Interesting how the Vegas/Nevada authorities, no doubt under extreme pressure from the casinos, have caved and decided to act as if the pandemic is completely over. Gather in large crowds! Cough on one another! Bring lotsa money!

IMHO only completely vaccinated people should be allowed to visit Vegas casinos. Now, wouldn't that be an incentive to sway the no-vaxxers?

This summer will see the infection of tens of thousands of people, and the deaths of thousands, as a direct result of congregating in Vegas. The awful part is that contact tracing will be impossible, and generally, people will sicken and die only after they've returned home. So, given that half of the hordes will be unvaccinated, which is well short of what's needed for herd immunity, Vegas will be killing people this summer.

But hey, the casinos will be making beaucoup bucks, and that's the only thing that matters, right?

(And before anyone flings chimp feces at me because I'm going there this week, I hasten to add that I'm fully vaccinated and will continue to observe social distancing and wear a mask at all times. Not that anyone else will, but...)

Thing is, as opposed to holiday parties/mass indoor and outdoor gatherings, the flights and casinos all had enforced protections, specifically mask, distancing, sanitization, etc. BEFORE vaccines were available.  How many who flew and visited casinos actually got sick and died?   Would need real data on that, preferably not from the Kevin News & Views, (sorry Kev).   Those environments were safer than some may have thought; certainly safer than family/holiday mass celebrations.

Hotels had limits on elevator capacity, usually 4; never once did we have people rushing to hold elevator doors open to squeeze in to the point of no space left, as before the Covid shutdown.  That one thing made it so pleasant, no crowded elevators.   Restaurants had limited capacity so never crowded there.   100% mask wearing everywhere. 

Look how the measures, primarily masks IMHO, put the kibash on influenza.  It practically disappeared last flu season.

Candy

We went twice last year, and came back healthy.  (Also traveled five other places.)  We were careful every place we traveled, wearing masks, washing and/or sanitizing hands, and practiced social distancing.  Won't get to go to Vegas again until September, but we're now fully vaccinated.  That's just our experience - we are a sample size of two people. 

It would be extremely difficult to link cause and effect if someone visited Vegas, contracted Covid, and then got sick and/or died. That said, it is a certainty that that exact thing has already happened to thousands of people (most of whom, of course, didn't die).

The risk this summer will be lower. But it's asinine to think it will be nonexistent, or even negligible, as the current propaganda suggests. The Vegas powers that be are making a cynical calculation that the money they make from going full-blown-reopen will be "worth" however many deaths and illnesses result.

And who knows, maybe they're right. The feeding frenzy environment I just observed on my recent trip makes me think that people have been jonesing so much for a Vegas trip that they would accept a 50% risk of death. Maybe 75%. So give 'em what they want, I say (cough, cough).

Well MGM (we are staying at Aria next week) just opened up their casinos to a no mask required policy if vaccinated. Good news for many people, I assume.

My wife and I have been fully vaccinated but we will still "mask up" in the casinos around the throngs of people expected to be there. Better safe than sorry.

Keep safe.

Terry

Uncle Joe says it's okay..................so it's okay.

Exactly wrong. The CDC--which Trump muzzled last year--says that one no longer needs to wear a mask if one is fully vaccinated---unless one is in "a congregate setting," which would be mass gatherings such as sporting events, plays and concerts, and yes, crowded casinos.

Biden isn't making his own recommendations or policy. He's following the recommendations of the CDC. Polls show that Trump managed to significantly erode public trust in that agency.

That aside, the casinos are not making and will not make any efforts to verify if a maskless person is indeed fully vaccinated. In fact, I expect the "I've been vaccinated" rate to magically shoot upwards to 100%!

This is just silly. I flew out there 5 times over the last 12 months and stayed for a week each time. No problems. Now that all adults have the choice to get vaxed and most of the vulnerable already are the correct move is to open up. Masks have been more of an issue than an assistance so quite glad to see them go. Looking forward to a normal June visit! Hated the mask and plexiglass at tables. So glad for all these positive steps!

JMHO: I believe Covid-19 was floating around as early as the fall of 2019.  I have no evidence, just my belief.  We did trips to Vegas, Laughlin, Biloxi at least 6-8 times from October 2019 (flights x 2 for each trip) to March 10, 2020 when the virus was announced and Vegas shut down a day or two later.  In fact, we flew home from a six night Vegas trip on March 10, 2020.   No masks, no distancing, no over and above sanitization measures in place prior to that date, planes always full.  Why we didn't 'catch' the virus from somebody on a plane or in a casino is a mystery.  Thank God.  I took three tests, all negative.  I wasn't symptomatic, but testing was free and easy to get, so why not?  Husband tested once, negative.

Of course we immediately began masking and following all the recommendations once it was announced and continued until this day.  Will keep wearing the mask in public for a bit more.

My point:  I really have none, except the belief that Covid was circulating in the US much earlier than anybody knows.   I think a lot of us were very fortunate; we came close to someone who was asymptomatically shedding the virus yet we didn't acquire it.

Candy

Yes. Because you didn't die, it was actually 100% safe and all just a liberal hoax perpetrated by the Deep State and Hillary. And because masks annoy you, they weren't really necessary.

Of course, you could easily have been carrying the virus--25% of those infected are asymptomatic--and you could have infected and/or killed someone else and never have known it.

It's too soon to return to "normal," especially given the threat of virus variants. The most obvious step would be to allow only fully vaccinated people to travel and to visit the casinos. But no way will the casinos take that prudent and socially responsible precaution.