{"id":151340,"date":"2020-10-06T13:50:15","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T20:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=151340"},"modified":"2020-10-06T14:15:34","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T21:15:34","slug":"skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/","title":{"rendered":"SkyCity Auckland First Major Casino Resort to Strip COVID-19 Safety Measures"},"content":{"rendered":"

SkyCity Auckland in New Zealand is set to become the first major integrated resort (IR) casino in the world to do away with strict regulations that were implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\"SkyCity
SkyCity Auckland (seen here) plans to get back to normal this week by removing coronavirus restrictions at the large casino resort. (Image: SkyCity Auckland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beginning on Thursday, October 8, SkyCity Auckland will return to normal operations. The casino changes are a result of the New Zealand government moving the city to an Alert Level 1 in its COVID-19 Alert System.<\/p>\n

New Zealand<\/a> is currently averaging only several new positive cases each day over the past month. Therefore, the government believes Auckland, its largest city, is ready to follow the rest of the country and move to Level 1.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Under Level 2, SkyCity Auckland was only accessible to the casino’s Premier Rewards members. Come Thursday, the casino will open to the general public. Alert Level 2 means the coronavirus disease is contained, but there remains a risk of community transmission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

SkyCity Hamilton<\/a> and Queenstown reopened to the general public on September 22. However, those casinos are much smaller operations. SkyCity Auckland is thought to be the first major gaming property to fully lift coronavirus restrictions.<\/p>\n

Back to Business<\/b><\/h2>\n

Soon SkyCity Auckland will be free of restrictions on gatherings, and social distancing will not be enforced.<\/p>\n

But before you book a ticket to New Zealand to gamble and entertain yourself freely, the government says entry restrictions remain on anyone coming into the island country.<\/p>\n

\n

Controls at the borders remain for those entering New Zealand. This includes health screening and testing for all arrivals, and mandatory 14-day managed isolation or quarantine,”<\/strong> the government explains.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

SkyCity Auckland has 2,100 slot machines and over 100 table games on the main floor. The casino additionally has a private VIP space for high rolling guests, and a 20-table baccarat room.<\/p>\n

The IR complex has nearly 1,000 hotel rooms and suites, over 20 restaurants and bars, and approximately 200,000 square feet of convention space. Perhaps the casino’s most distinctive attraction is Sky Tower, which stands 1,076 feet tall and is a staple of the Auckland skyline.<\/p>\n

New Zealand Safety Standards\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

SkyCity says it will continue to conduct entrance temperature checks on guests but at random. Patrons who refuse to be screened will be denied entry. The resort will also keep pace with increased cleaning frequencies of high-touch areas.<\/p>\n

New Zealand forced SkyCity Auckland to close on August 12. The government allowed the resort to reopen on August 31 in reduced capacity and social distancing measures in place.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being an island country in the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand has been able to limit the spread of coronavirus through border restrictions. To date, the country has reported just 1,858 COVID-19 cases and 25 deaths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SkyCity Auckland in New Zealand is set to become the first major integrated resort (IR) casino in the world to do away with strict regulations that were implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19. Beginning on Thursday, October 8, SkyCity Auckland will return to normal operations. The casino changes are a result of the New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":151343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSkyCity Auckland First Major Casino Resort to Strip COVID-19 Measures<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SkyCity Auckland in New Zealand has largely done away with strict regulations that were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SkyCity Auckland First Major Casino Resort to Strip COVID-19 Measures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SkyCity Auckland in New Zealand has largely done away with strict regulations that were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-06T20:50:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-06T21:15:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/p-30609123-D22C-C8EF-1D4716271B4E5987-2544003.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/\",\"name\":\"SkyCity Auckland First Major Casino Resort to Strip COVID-19 Measures\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/p-30609123-D22C-C8EF-1D4716271B4E5987-2544003.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-06T20:50:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-06T21:15:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"SkyCity Auckland in New Zealand has largely done away with strict regulations that were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/p-30609123-D22C-C8EF-1D4716271B4E5987-2544003.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/p-30609123-D22C-C8EF-1D4716271B4E5987-2544003.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":850,\"caption\":\"SkyCity Auckland plans to get back to normal this week by removing coronavirus restrictions at the large casino resort. (Image: SkyCity Auckland)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Asia Pacific Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"SkyCity Auckland First Major Casino Resort to Strip COVID-19 Safety Measures\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SkyCity Auckland First Major Casino Resort to Strip COVID-19 Measures","description":"SkyCity Auckland in New Zealand has largely done away with strict regulations that were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SkyCity Auckland First Major Casino Resort to Strip COVID-19 Measures","og_description":"SkyCity Auckland in New Zealand has largely done away with strict regulations that were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2020-10-06T20:50:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-06T21:15:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":850,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/p-30609123-D22C-C8EF-1D4716271B4E5987-2544003.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/","name":"SkyCity Auckland First Major Casino Resort to Strip COVID-19 Measures","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/p-30609123-D22C-C8EF-1D4716271B4E5987-2544003.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-06T20:50:15+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-06T21:15:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"SkyCity Auckland in New Zealand has largely done away with strict regulations that were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/p-30609123-D22C-C8EF-1D4716271B4E5987-2544003.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/p-30609123-D22C-C8EF-1D4716271B4E5987-2544003.jpg","width":1200,"height":850,"caption":"SkyCity Auckland plans to get back to normal this week by removing coronavirus restrictions at the large casino resort. (Image: SkyCity Auckland)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skycity-auckland-first-major-casino-resort-to-strip-covid-19-measures\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Asia Pacific Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"SkyCity Auckland First Major Casino Resort to Strip COVID-19 Safety Measures"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151340"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}