Casinos are beginning to reopen in Missouri after a more than two-month shutdown caused by the coronavirus, and it was clear Monday that many people were eager to gamble.
Nearly 100 people lined up awaiting the 9 a.m. reopening of Lumiere Place casino in downtown St. Louis, including many older adults, most wearing masks, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. According to state health department data, 579 of the 772 people in Missouri who have died from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, were age 70 or older.
Darryl Foster, 54, told the newspaper he wasn't worried about the virus.
"I look at it like it is what it is," said Foster, of St. Louis. "If it's gonna get you, it's gonna get you."
In the Kansas City area, gambling was resuming at Ameristar, Argosy, Isle of Capri and Harrah's, after the statewide order suspending operations expired. The Kansas City Star reported several casinos would operate at a limited capacity and some amenities such as live entertainment and buffets would remain closed.
Mike Leara, chairman of the Missouri Gaming Commission, told the Star the state's 13 casinos and the commission reached agreement calling for enhanced cleaning, closing down every other slot machine, requiring masks for employees and other measures. The commission had suspended the casino licenses March 17 as the coronavirus began to spread.
"One of the toughest parts of this decision was putting 9,000 people out of work," Leara said.
St. Louis County, which has been hit harder by deaths and cases of the coronavirus than anywhere else in Missouri, will allow its two casinos to reopen June 15, County Executive Sam Page announced Monday as part of the county's phased-in reopening plan.
Page said bars can open Monday. Other businesses that have been closed, including casinos, fitness centers, movie theaters, bowling alleys and others, can reopen June 15 with restrictions.
Missouri reported 64 deaths in a two-day period Friday and Saturday, but just one Sunday. The number of confirmed cases Sunday rose by 185 to 13,147.
The new cases include 70 soldiers and trainees at Fort Leonard Wood, fort officials said Sunday. The affected individuals were all assigned to the 1st Battalion, 48th Infantry Regiment, and have been quarantined. Buildings and facilities within the unit have been sanitized.
Most of those who tested positive do not have coronavirus symptoms and none have been hospitalized.
About 500 soldiers or trainees were tested when they arrived at the base and all tests originally came back negative. Four days later, a trainee reported having symptoms and all 500 were re-tested on Saturday and Sunday, resulting in the 70 positive results.