About half of the people who have visited a Massachusetts slots parlor or casino since the recent lifting of COVID-19 restrictions have worn a face covering even without the requirement to do so, a gaming regulator said Thursday.
MGM Springfield, Encore Boston Harbor and Plainridge Park Casino were allowed last Saturday to return to pre-pandemic operations as Gov. Charlie Baker and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission lifted the numerous restrictions and mandates that had been imposed since the gaming centers reopened last July.
"Everything seems to be going pretty well, transition-wise," Bruce Band, assistant director of the commission's Investigations and Enforcement Bureau, told commissioners Thursday. "The casinos have been 100% cooperative."
Band said Encore in Everett has 200 tables games and all of its slot machines open, and MGM Springfield has its table games and about 80% of its slots open. Neither casino has kept any of the plexiglass barriers that were used at table games for the last year.
"It seems like when they were taking it off the tables, the patrons almost helped them remove it," Band said.
Plainridge Park has not yet removed any of its plexiglass barriers. Band said the Plainville slots parlor has been slower to return machines to active use as it deals with a "little bit of a staffing shortage" in its slots area.
Band said "masks are about 50/50" for players across the three properties, and that gaming agents "don't see a lot of masks being worn by employees at this point." He said most casino employees have been vaccinated.
