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Nevada board lifts casino mask mandate following governor’s order

FILE - In this June 24, 2021, file photo, crowds walk through the casino during the opening night of Resorts World Las Vegas in Las Vegas. Elected officials in tourism-dependent Las Vegas worried Tuesday, July 20, 2021, about public health and the economic effects of a spike in COVID-19 cases, particularly the highly contagious delta variant. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Masks are no longer required inside Nevada casinos, unless the business institutes its own policy.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board followed Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak’s decision Thursday to remove the state’s indoor mask mandate.


“Effective immediately, individuals are no longer required to wear a mask in public indoor settings in licensed gaming establishments, unless a local jurisdiction still imposes such a requirement,” the board said in a statement. “If a licensee is subject to a local jurisdiction’s requirement relating to masks, the board expects full compliance from the licensee.”

Masking in Nevada’s gaming establishments had been the purview of the board and not the governor.

“We have seen a rapid decline in case numbers coupled with declining hospitalizations; a drop of COVID-19 detected in wastewater, and a broader availability of testing and available treatments,” Sisolak said during a news conference Thursday.

The governor had come under increasing pressure as other states lifted their mask mandates. Nevada was one of a half-dozen states with a mandate requiring masks to be worn in indoor public settings.