November 15, 2020
Courtesy of/Borgata
Borgata has been forced to shut down indoor dining service at its restaurants and bars between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. every night.
In the wake of New Jersey reimplementing restrictions on indoor dining service across the state, more than 400 employees at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City will be subject to a layoff or a reduction in hours.
Roughly 73 workers will be let go and approximately 349 employees will see their hours reduced, according to a letter sent to Borgata staffers that was obtained by the Associated Press.
“Regrettably, due to the adjusted operations and overall impact of the pandemic on business, we’ve been forced to modify our staffing levels,” Borgata President Melonie Johnson wrote.
“We are hopeful to return employees to work and increase hours when the executive order is lifted, operations expand and business demand returns. The governor has not yet announced when the order will be lifted so, unfortunately, we don’t know how long this may last and cannot fully assess any lasting impacts on our business levels.”
Starting this past Thursday, restaurants and bars in New Jersey had to stop indoor service between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. every night. Bar seating is also now prohibited across the state.
The measure also impacts clubs, lounges, and casinos. Venues such as Borgata reopened their doors for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic in July after being closed for four months.
Indoor dining resumed in New Jersey in September after being shut down for nearly six months.
It initially was slated to resume in early July, but it was postponed indefinitely after COVID-19 cases spiked in other states that had reopened restaurants during the summer.
The state’s latest actions to curb indoor dining comes as coronavirus infections continue to rise. New Jersey recorded 4,395 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, increasing the statewide total to 274,736 since the public health crisis began in March.
Gov. Phil Murphy said that the state’s latest number of COVID-19 infections was “alarming and concerning.”
The statewide death toll due to COVID-19 is 14,747 lab-confirmed fatalities.
Follow Pat & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @Pat_Ralph | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Add Pat's RSS feed to your feed reader
Have a news tip? Let us know.
