Huge Crowds Turn Out for Reopening of Southland Casino

by | May 18, 2020 | Coronavirus, Local News | 0 comments

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When Southland Casino Racing opened up Monday morning, people were lined up outside with spending money in hand. Like much of the Mid-South, Southland has been locked down for roughly the past eight weeks.

The reopening isn’t without its restrictions, however. When visitors entered the building Monday morning, they were forced to adhere to a long list of rules.

Besides the unsurprising rules of being required to wear a mask and having their temperatures taken, guests had to provide an ID at the door. This ID is not just to confirm age. Rather, it is to record the person’s visit in the casino’s registry.

  • Guests are asked to adhere to social distancing protocols while waiting to enter.
  • All incoming guests will be added to a guest registry and their identity will be stored as a record of their visit.
  • All guests will be required to wear a mask or other face covering during their visit.
  • Temperature screening and health check of guests takes place upon entering the facility.
  • An on-site Clean Team has been created, and its members are equipped with Ecolab® multi-surface cleaner and disinfectant to conduct ongoing sanitization of all surfaces. They will help to protect guests by dispensing hand sanitizer and spot cleaning slot machines and other surfaces on request.
  • Social distancing protocols are in place throughout the facility.
  • Touchless service and payment options are now available at food and beverage outlets.
  • Hand-sanitizing stations have been added at the entrance and throughout the facility.
  • Air exchange settings have been bolstered to optimize air quality within the facility.
  • Some service offerings may be limited or unavailable to help maintain safe social distancing and health and safety guidelines.
  • No smoking will be permitted within the facility, and designated smoking areas will be established and maintained outside of the building.

“All the guests get an ID scan, that keeps records so we know they’ve been here and have any signs they cannot come back to see us for 72 hours, ” Jeff Strang with Southland said, according to News Channel 3.

While working at 33 percent capacity, there is a new no-smoking rule, hand sanitizer stations are scattered throughout the building and no-touch options for food and drink are available.

These new rules are part of the “Play it Safe” initiative by the casino. Ironically, being recorded definitely doesn’t feel safe to me.


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