One-third of Pennsylvania’s casinos close due to coronavirus

Hard Rock casino in Atlantic City

The lobby of the Hard Rock casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is seen June 20, 2019. On Friday, March 13, 2020, Hard Rock announced it is canceling live entertainment at all its U.S. properties for 30 days in response to the coronavirus outbreak, one of many steps casinos around the country are taking in response to the outbreak.AP File Photo/Wayne Parry

UPDATE: Wind Creek Casino in Bethlehem is now closed for two weeks.

Four of Pennsylvania’s 12 casinos -- three in or around Philadelphia and one in Pittsburgh -- have closed temporarily over concerns about the coronavirus.

Harrah’s Philadelphia in Delaware County and Valley Forge Casino in Montgomery County closed indefinitely. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration urged people to avoid non-essential travel in those two counties, which had a combined 24 of Pennsylvania’s 41 cases of the COVID-19 illness, as of the state’s count released at 5 p.m. Friday. The Montgomery County restrictions took effect Friday, followed by Delaware County’s guidance Saturday, and were expected to remain in place for two weeks.

Statewide, Wolf “strongly encourages the suspension of large gatherings, events, conferences of 250 individuals or more” and “discourages individuals from traveling to recreational activities like gyms, movie theaters and shopping malls.”

Rivers Casino Philadelphia said it will voluntarily close, effective at midnight Sunday, for 14 days. And the Rivers casino in Pittsburgh also announced a 14-day closure effective at midnight Sunday, triblive.com reports. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Friday declared a state of emergency, prohibiting all gatherings of more than 250 people beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, KDKA-CBS 2 reports.

Wolf’s two-week closure of all K-12 schools in Pennsylvania begins Monday, as well. All Warren County and Hunterdon County schools will also be closed for two weeks starting Monday. Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday it’s “inevitable” schools across the state will be forced to close as coronavirus continues to spread.

COVID-19 began spreading in December in Wuhan, China, and as of Saturday was confirmed in 129 countries, territories or areas globally, up from 122 locations on Friday, the World Health Organization reports. The confirmed cast count worldwide was 142,320 with 5,388 deaths, up from 132,758 with 4,955 deaths on Friday.

The United States had 1,629 cases with 41 deaths in 46 states plus the District of Columbia, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Symptoms of infection may appear two to 14 days after exposure and include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Reported illnesses have ranged from mild to severe to fatal, the CDC says. The CDC urges immediate medical attention for anyone with emergency warning signs including difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion or inability to arouse and bluish lips or face.

Hospitals in the Lehigh Valley have set up advisory and screening hotlines as a first step toward seeking help, along with eight new testing centers.

Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board spokesman Richard McGarvey said everyone in the state needs to follow what the governor’s office and Pennsylvania Department of Health are saying to try to stem the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

“As the situation changes and as the governor and the Health Department come out with ‘Here’s what needs to be happening,’ the casinos so far I think have been open to that and doing those requirements,” McGarvey told lehighvalleylive.com on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Hard Rock, whose brand relies on live entertainment, said it is canceling all such entertainment at its U.S. properties for 30 days, including concerts in large and small venues, and nightclub entertainment.

The move came after New Jersey’s governor requested that all gatherings of 250 or more people be canceled. On Friday, he said he is not considering ordering the casinos to temporarily suspend operations.

“There’s no plan that I’m aware of that the casinos are going to be shut down,” Murphy said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. If there’s anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

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