Las Vegas is a ghost town where even the strippers put up signs saying, 'Sorry, we're clothed'

[Klaralven]

It’s America’s gaudiest playground, where crowds mill around the world-famous neon ‘Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign, jostling for selfies as the notorious Strip bustles with tourists seeking the buzz of debauchery.

Sin City has a well-earned reputation for offering every kind of thrill 24 hours a day – from high-stakes poker tournaments, slots and roulette wheels in the casinos to the strip joints, showbiz glitz and all-night bars.

Fortunes can be so easily made – or lost – in an instant.

But today, in the shadow of Covid-19, Las Vegas is on its own losing streak.

For while few places have been left unaffected by the pandemic, perhaps nowhere has had its devil-may-care attitude rocked as much as this narrow pocket of Nevada.

Casinos, hotels and shows which last year generated $60 billion (£48 billion) in tourist revenue are either almost empty or shuttered.

The entertainment mecca of the Strip, which attracted 49.5 million people in 2019 from around the world – including half a million from the UK – is neglected and deserted.

A 150ft-tall replica of the Statue of Liberty is wearing a face mask, while no one is clamouring for a selfie by the flashing neon signs.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8726053/Las-Vegas-ghost-town-strippers-signs-saying-Sorry-clothed.html

Online gaming is dong to casinos what online shopping did to department stores. The change will be largely permanent. Besides, there are now casinos all over the country.

[Squinch]

1. That's a LOT of jobs.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. I hate it for the people who have no jobs now.

[Thekaspervote]

3. To all the great people of NV never forget who put you in this terrible mess!!

Canada has had zero cases in 2 days, China says they are free of new cases. We could have been there too if it weren’t for the current IMPOTUS!!

[BigmanPigman]

4. I saw photos of tons of people gambling

tightly packed and not wearing masks. I wonder which casino this was at (it was at least a month ago so I can't find it now). It was shocking.

[Merlot]

5. This seems old - I thought the casinos were re-opening

[progree]

8. Article is dated Sept 12. Some casinos are open, just so few people visiting. Cases down 74%

Nevada is 29th highest state in daily new cases per 100,000, 7 day moving average (that's better than the median)

at 68 cases per 100,000 in the past 7 days (10 per 100,000 per day)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html

Scroll down to the "Cases and deaths by state and county" table.
Sort it by the "per 100,000" column that follows the "cases in last 7 days" column

========================================================

As for the trend:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/nevada-coronavirus-cases.html

Down 74% from the July 20 peak

Last 14 days: down 38%

So apparently they've been doing something lately (in the last 1 1/2 - 2 months) like putting on more restrictions

[BigmanPigman]

9. I got curious and did some searching....

this article has stats but doesn't provide any for Aug even though it is dated Sept. From June to July the numbers of visitors increased so I am assuming that July to Aug also increased. If you adjust the info it looks like current visitors are at 50% compared to pre-Covid.

The article says that the casinos are seeing more younger people (like the rest of the country) and that may be a permanent change for Las Vegas and the casinos are going to target that age group now.

https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article112359.html

[pecosbob]

14. Cigarette butts in the pool at the Mirage

The very few people actually working on the strip tell me the 'quality' of the visitors they are getting is way down. Only twenty-five percent of the casinos are actually open and those coming to town are definitely the budget conscious crowd.

[babylonsister]

6. A slice of Americana. This is sad

for so many, and I don't see an end in sight.

[Timewas]

7. Las Vegas

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjp3oSJkuXrAhWeJzQIHWkqA8EQFjAAegQIBRAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.earthcam.com%2Fcams%2Fnevada%2Flasvegas%2Findex.php%3Fcam%3Dsign_hd&usg=AOvVaw3H5zjq56ltlImWe88MxGz8

[pecosbob]

10. Here on the ground in Las Vegas

Forty percent of the city is out of work. People that visit my market now often pay for their purchases with nickels, dimes and quarters instead of dollars. Social distancing and mask requirements are being enforced everywhere one looks. The bottom line is only twenty-five percent of normal volume of visitors are coming to town. The conventions on which the town's livelihood depends have already been cancelled through the middle of next year. Hotel occupancy is around twenty-five percent. By this time next year it's likely fifteen percent of our city's population will have moved to another state. This is the new normal in Las Vegas in the era of the virus.

[sfstaxprep]

11. Downtown Packed On A Saturday Night

https://www.earthcam.com/cams/nevada/lasvegas/index.php?cam=catsmeow_lv_fremont

[progree]

13. Wow, looks a lot more like Sturgis than what the OP dailymail article is describing /nt

[radius777]

12. For some reason Trump still polls well on the economy.

How these states hit hard by the virus play out electorally comes down to which party they blame more.

Remember, Trump is effective at gaslighting and his narrative boils down to 'Dems are exaggerating and shutting down the economy causing you to lose money'.

Biden/Dems are refuting this, but need to do so more powerfully, so that voters know that it was Trump and his mismanagement of the virus that led to the pandemic spiraling out of control thus damaging the economy for regular people - all to protect the stock market for the rich and his reelection.

[KentuckyWoman]

15. I was there once.

We flew in and out of Vegas to access southwestern Utah and that corner of Arizona.

Leaving the airport in broad daylight we drove the strip and took a few pics. The city is ugly as hell. At night returning the lights were interesting but the weird in the street was not fit for a quiet farm girl. We had a group of 10 family ... none of us thought enough of it to want to ever go back. What little I saw was too creepy and sad.

Edit to add I understand the strip is going to be the most outrageous of the outrageous. I would expect where Vegas residents LIVE is a lot more "normal".