At the same time, the possibility exists for droplets containing the virus to be shared by secondhand smoke, though it’s not certain how likely that is. While much is still to be studied and proven about the risk for COVID-19, health experts have suggested that due to the respiratory nature of the virus, smokers are at greater risk of contracting it and of suffering more harmful effects from it. Table games had restrictions on smoking, however, due to proximity of players to one another and dealers.

Patrons were all required to have masks, but they generally pulled them down when smoking, just as for eating or drinking. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in May issued a set of minimum standards for COVID-19 prevention that casinos would be expected to meet before they could reopen, but the guidelines contained no reference to smoking or any restriction on it.Īs casinos gradually reopened between June 9 and 29 - permitted to do so as their counties moved into the state’s color-coded “green phase” of allowable business activities - smoking continued in most venues as in the past. Repeated legislative efforts to repeal the exception have failed to muster support for passage.īy Monday morning, most websites of the 10 operating casinos had information advising the public of the new restriction, noting smoking would be permissible in designated areas adjacent to the casino floor or in an outdoor area nearby. State law since casinos were first allowed in Pennsylvania has permitted them to allow smoking in up to 50% of the facility, as an exception to a prohibition in most public spaces.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board issued an order Friday instructing casinos that due to coronavirus-related health and safety concerns, they should prohibit smoking on their gaming floors. COVID-19 has managed to do something that anti-tobacco forces in Pennsylvania have been unable to achieve for years: It has cleared the state’s casinos of smoking.

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