Every one of the twelve casinos in Pennsylvania have reportedly been ordered to close for a 24-day period from midnight tonight following a steep rise in the number of locals who have succumbed to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

According to a report from CDC Gaming Reports, the statewide command from Governor Tom Wolf comes as ‘The Keystone State’ recorded over 12,000 new infections yesterday to bring its historical tally up to 463,175 for 12,104 deaths. The source detailed that the move means that Pennsylvania has now become the third American state behind Illinois and Michigan to have ordered their commercial casinos to close for a second time this year owing to fears over the coronavirus pandemic.

Retreat return:

Casinos in Pennsylvania reportedly first began being ordered to shutter their operations from March 12 with the Valley Forge Casino and Resort in Montgomery County subsequently becoming one of the last to partially re-open from June 26. This latest shutdown is purportedly set to run through the Christmas and New Year holidays to January 4 in hopes of helping to stop the spread of an ailment that has so far been blamed for the deaths of well over 300,000 Americans.

Reportedly read a statement from Wolf…

“It has become clear that we need to take further action to protect Pennsylvanians and stop the spread of coronavirus. Today I’m announcing additional, temporary mitigation measures.”

Escalating anxiety:

Carlo Santarelli from Deutsche Bank Securities Incorporated reportedly told investors that Pennsylvania’s decision to close its casinos for a second time in 2020 comes after several neighboring states implemented even more sever pandemic-related social distancing and public health measures. He purportedly furthermore declared that this is not likely to be ‘the last of the closures’ despite the fact that federal regulators from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are currently considering whether to grant an ‘emergency use authorization’ permit to the vaccine recently developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.

Santarelli reportedly declared…

“While December is traditionally a somewhat softer seasonal month, the period between Christmas and New Year tends to drive the month and, as such, the closure through this period is slightly more meaningful. As we noted with the closures in Illinois and Michigan, we think it is unrealistic to assume this is the last of the closures, especially with the light at the end of the tunnel identifiable with the vaccine in the first half of 2021.”