Casino CEO pushes for bubble-like atmosphere to resume mass gatherings

Matt Maddox wrote a piece for the Nevada Independent outlining his plan to bring large gatherings back to Sin City.
“For months, we have been working with University Medical Center (UMC), Georgetown University and leading labs in California and New York to study technology that can rapidly and rigorously test thousands of people in a matter of hours,” wrote Maddox.

The tests Maddox described are using FDA-approved PCR technology and he is already in talks with medical professionals at University of Nevada Las Vegas, who could keep tabs on the results of those rapid test results.

A few paragraphs later, Maddox links to an article from Harvard Medical School that was published in March and updated in September that said it takes an infected person about 48 hours before they become contagious.

The information coupled with the testing capabilities, Maddox surmised that gatherings larger than what is currently allowed could happen safely. A few days before Maddox wrote the piece, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak lifted the 50-person limit on in-person gatherings and increased it to 250.

Maddox used an example of a concert starting at 7 p.m. He believes that it’s possible to have the entire crowd tested between 12-4 p.m. with a simple saliva test. The barcodes from the ticket correspond to a specific saliva sample and the technology would allow the tests to be completed by 6 p.m. Anyone with a negative test result would be able to attend, while positive tests would be denied entry.

Based on the Harvard study, if someone with a negative test contracted the virus in the interim between the test and the show, they would be at no risk to transmit it to another person in the crowd.

Concerts and other in-person shows have been some of the hardest hit sectors of the casino industry as mass gatherings will be one of the last things that authorities allow to return. Maddox believes that a quick return for these events will accelerate Las Vegas’ economic turnaround.

“Clearly, we will need approval from the state to execute this plan, but having worked closely with leading medical experts around the country, I believe that this approach can accelerate Nevada’s recovery, and not just for the Las Vegas Strip, but also to reopen our schools,” wrote Maddox.