MGM and Caesars require guests to wear masks inside US properties

Hours before the Nevada governor was set to update the public on the state's coronavirus response on Wednesday, Caesars Entertainment announced all guests inside their properties had to wear face coverings at all times unless they were eating or drinking.

“We are immediately requiring everyone in our properties to wear masks, because the scientific evidence strongly suggests that wearing masks and practicing social distancing may be the most important deterrents to spreading COVID-19 from person to person," said Caesars CEO Tony Rodio in a statement (more information: www.caesars.com/health-and-safety)

Caesars' mandate comes the same week the operator of five reopened hotel-casinos on The Strip launched a promotion giving mask-wearing guests $20 in free play.

MGM Resorts has also decided to announce the same mandated face-covering policy

"It's good policy," MGM Resorts Acting CEO Bill Hornbuckle told the USA TODAY Network. "Caution is critically important, and we have seen that those areas, those states, those businesses that required masks in the collective have fared better than those that have not." 

Dealers and other employees are required to wear masks or face shields, per gaming authority reopening regulations.

For visitors, masks were only encouraged, not mandatory, in Las Vegas casinos, and many went without during reopening week.

When Caesars Palace reopened on June 4, an employee handing out masks with a tong at one entrance estimated 80% of visitors weren't wearing masks.

But COVID-19 cases are gaining steam in Nevada and across the U.S., and state officials were getting pressured to require masks for all casino visitors.

Nevada has crested 14,000 cases of COVID-19, adding an additional 365 new cases on Wednesday.

In total, 14,362 Nevadans have tested positive for coronavirus, according to new numbers posted to the Nevada Health Alliance dashboard Wednesday morning.

The number of people who’ve died from the disease increased to 494.

The state’s four highest single-day increases have all been recorded within the past week, according to state data.