Hotels and casinos along the Las Vegas Strip are closing their doors due to coronavirus

Some of the most popular hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, employing tens of thousands of workers, are shutting down amid the coronavirus pandemic.

MGM Resorts International, which owns the Bellagio, MGM Grand, The Mirage, and several other resorts, announced on Sunday it is temporarily suspending operations at all of its Las Vegas properties. Chairman and CEO Jim Murren said the closure is "for the good of our employees, guests, and communities," as it is "now apparent" that the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is "a public health crisis that requires major collective action if we are to slow its progression."

MGM Resorts will close its casinos on Monday and hotels on Tuesday; the company did not say when it expects operations to resume. There are two confirmed cases of MGM employees with COVID-19: one worked at the Luxor resort and another at the Wet Republic pool at MGM Grand, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Wynn Resorts will also close its Wynn Las Vegas and Encore properties starting Tuesday for two weeks. Caesars Entertainment on Sunday night said it has no plans to close its Nevada casinos and hotels, but is suspending live performances at its properties through March 31.