MGM Resorts plans to shut down hotel operations at the Mirage and Mandalay Bay resorts during the midweek, due to the lack of consumer demand resulting from COVID-19.
Beginning November 30, the hotel towers at the two iconic Las Vegas Strip properties will be open for business only between noon on Thursdays and noon on Mondays, though the resorts' casinos, restaurants and amenities will remain open.
The modification to Mirage's and Mandalay Bay's operating hours occurs three weeks after MGM Resorts' decision to close its Park MGM hotel from noon on Mondays to noon on Thursdays.
MGM Resorts said in a statement that it does not expect the policy of midweek hotel closure to last past December, but that the company will, "continue evaluating business levels to determine how long they are in effect." It explained, "We are constantly evaluating occupancy levels and adjusting operations accordingly."
Anton Nikodemus, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas properties, wrote in a letter to employees: "This year has proven to be especially challenging due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and the absence of the major meetings, conventions and events that typically fill Las Vegas' calendars during the fall and winter months."
CEO Bill Hornbuckle has explained that driving midweek hotel traffic has been challenging, since meetings and conventions haven't yet resumed. MGM Resorts' third-quarter occupancy rate came in at 44 percent, according to the Reno Gazette Journal, and the company sustained an operating loss of $495 million over the same period.
While Nevada's casinos reopened back on June 4, subject to a slew of new health and safety mandates, which include restrictions for reduced occupancy and social distancing, the majority of Las Vegas' business is now dependent upon local regional and drive-in customers.
In October, just under 1,857,000 visitors came to Las Vegas, representing a 50-percent decline year over year, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported. Air traffic at the city's McCarran International Airport was also down 57 percent in October.
The latest surge of COVID-19 infection in Nevada prompted Governor Steve Sisolak to implement newly strengthened statewide restrictions, which he referred to as a "statewide pause" that went into effect on November 24 and will remain in place for at least three weeks.
"We are on a rapid trajectory that threatens to overwhelm our health care system, our frontline health workers, and your access to care," Sisolak told Nevadans. "So, it's time to act."
The "statewide pause" expands upon Nevada's existing mask-wearing mandate and applies capacity limits of 25 percent to venues where crowding could likely occur, including casinos, arcades, art galleries, aquariums, racetracks, bowling alleys, theme/amusement parks, mini-golf, libraries, museums and zoos.
The new restrictions also affect the way that restaurants and bars are allowed to serve customers, reducing capacity allowances from 50 to 25 percent with no more than four diners seated at a table and reservations required for in-person dining, except at food courts and fast-food restaurants.
"I know the majority of our bars and restaurants are doing their best, but these settings are proven to be high-risk because they allow the opportunity for people to remove their face coverings in indoor settings around people outside of their household," Sisolak said. "That's how the virus spreads."
Capacity for public gatherings has been reduced from 250 to 50 people, or 25 percent of fire code capacity, whichever volume is smaller. Private gatherings can now consist of participants from no more than two households with a maximum of ten people in attendance.
In Nevada, masks are now required to be worn any time individuals are around someone outside of their immediate household, including during private indoor or outdoor gatherings.
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