In a post-corona world, Americans returned to some casinos along the Las Vegas Strip, but as we explain in this piece, they are not gambling.
A new, shocking reality has unfolded in a world of social distancing, stay-at-home public health orders, a crashed economy, and tens of millions of people out of work, the rise of America’s new breadlines, as we’ve documented over the last several months, has been reminiscent of the breadlines of the Great Depression.
The Daily Mail, citing local reports from Nevada Public Radio, indicates some casinos in “Sin City” have been transformed into food banks as tens of thousands of working poor have recently become unemployed in the past six weeks thanks to the lockdowns. Many of these folks were employed at casinos, hotels, restaurants, and other non-essential businesses that remain closed.
Now, with an influx of people who can’t survive on $1,200 checks from President Trump, and have drained savings, as their insurmountable debts cannot be serviced (likely deferred at the moment), casinos have joined the effort to feed America.
On Tuesday (April 28), we described in “”Money Is Running Out” – Vegas Struggles To Survive Shutdown” that an economic sh*tstorm has slammed into the city, decimating the labor force. One in three jobs in the state is tied to the tourism, leisure, hospitality, and the gambling industries, which has seen massive layoffs, resulting in a jump in the state’s unemployment rate to over 17%.
Three Square food bank COO Larry Scott, who oversaw food distribution at Boulder Station Hotel & Casino on Wednesday (April 29) said a traffic jam of cars stretched miles long.
“If you were to just drive past that line, you would absolutely see that the cars are representative of a lot of different economic classes,” Scott told Nevada Public Radio.
Scott said the virus has been “absolutely impactful” on the local economy. As we have previously noted, Vegas has imploded.
To make matters worse, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has extended the stay-at-home orders that will likely result in Vegas closed for another month.
It’s only a matter of time before people get angry and start to protest. Oops! It’s already happening, according to NBC Vegas…