AC Casinos Not Linked to COVID-19 Outbreaks, Says Gov. Murphy

At a briefing with state officials on Wednesday this week, Governor Phil Murphy revealed that the casino operators have managed their casino floors responsibly. Furthermore, the Governor noted that there is no evidence relating the recent outbreaks of positive COVID-19 patients and casinos in the state.

Casino Operators Responsibly Manage Their Casino Floors

During a briefing with state officials on Wednesday this week, Governor Phil Murphy revealed that there is no evidence relating the recent outbreaks of positive COVID-19 patients to Atlantic City casinos. The Governor outlined that based on collected evidence, the operators have responsibly managed their casino floors. As a result, no outbreaks were related to casino properties.

“We believe, based on the evidence that we have, that they’ve been able to responsibly manage their casino floors.”

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy

Furthermore, Governor Murphy acknowledged that the operators have implemented the required health and safety measures which include spacers, reduced capacity, temperature checks, screening questions, and more. As a result, according to the Governor, there was no “evidence that there is either bad management of the floor or that there is a big outbreak coming from participating on the floor“.

Keeping in mind this week’s announcement, last week, in light of the growing number of positive COVID-19 cases, Governor Murphy urged municipalities to take action. Rolling out new restrictions, the Governor empowered municipalities allowing them to order curfew on non-essential businesses to reduce the spread of the respiratory disease COVID-19. Furthermore, under the new restrictions, the working hours of indoor services at bars and restaurants were reduced.

Not the Year for a Big Family Gathering for Thanksgiving

According to data revealed by the New Jersey COVID-19 information hub, since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been a total of 293,744 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases. The patients who have deceased have reached 14,877. Recently, there were 4,320 newly reported positive cases and 34 newly confirmed deaths. On the bright side, more than 188,000 patients have already recovered from the disease.

Focusing on the number of cases reported statewide, New Jersey is still far from the top of the chart with the most reported positive COVID-19 cases. For the moment, most cases were reported in Texas, reaching more than 1,147,000 positive COVID-19 cases. Next in line is California with more than 1,080,000 reported cases followed by Florida with 914,000 reported positive COVID-19 cases.

In light of the recent increase of positive COVID-19 cases, Governor Murphy urged the residents to wear masks, follow social distancing guidelines, and wash their hands. Furthermore, the Governor said that “there is no way to sugarcoat any of these numbers“. He added that the numbers are far from good and are trending to worse.

The Governor urged residents of New Jersey not to attend any private gatherings outside of those with “immediate families”. Acknowledging that Thanksgiving is a week away, the Governor said that this year is not “the year for a big family gathering”.