Atlantic City's Borgata reopening July 6; invited guests can come July 2

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Unless you get a special invitation, you won't be able to get inside Atlantic City's top casino until July 6.

The Borgata tells The Associated Press it will open its doors to the general public four days after many of its competitors.

The casino will host invitation-only days starting July 2, intended as a trial run to see how new procedures designed to cope with the coronavirus outbreak are working. New Jersey Gov.

Phil Murphy has set July 2 as the first date that Atlantic City casinos can reopen, but gave them the option to do so-called “friends and family” test runs before fully reopening.

Casinos in New Jersey will be limited to 25% capacity to start. The governor said additional safety and health guidelines will be released in the coming days for casinos and restaurants.

Many of the casinos have been planning on their own for a reopening, and have adopted measures including increased hand sanitizers and social distancing to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

But some were planning more stringent measures than others. For example, Hard Rock says it will require masks to be worn by all employees and guests, while some other casinos say they will recommend mask use for guests.

Resorts Casinos plans to utilize air ionization, and ultraviolet light as part of its sterilization protocols, and every other slot machine will be disabled to keep guests separated.

Atlantic City's casinos have been shut since March 16, and revenue has plunged since then.

The casinos had been informally planning to be open in time for the July 4 weekend, a goal Murphy had said he wanted to meet several weeks ago. The holiday is one of the busiest times of the year for Atlantic City casinos.

On Monday, New Jersey reported 329 new coronavirus cases and 27 news deaths.

___

RELATED COVERAGE:

___

For the latest local news, sports and weather, download the FOX 29 News app.

DOWNLOAD: FOX 29 NEWS APP