Louisiana's 20 casinos and nearly 200 video poker truck stops will shut at midnight Tuesday morning and won’t reopen before April 13 as part of the state’s plan to slow the spread of coronavirus, Gov. John Bel Edwards ordered Monday.

[Update at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday: State Police reported that all of the facilities are closed.]

The casinos had already begun preparations on Monday to halt gambling operations at midnight under orders from the state's chief gambling regulator, Ronnie Jones. Jones’ decision was scheduled to last at least two weeks. The governor's order extends it until April 13 and includes bars and movie theaters, while limiting restaurants to delivery, take-out and drive-through only.

+3 Cantrell orders New Orleans gyms, shopping centers closed, bans gatherings amid coronavirus threat Mayor LaToya Cantrell ordered "public and private gatherings" be canceled and expanded the list of businesses that will be closed due to the r…

The directive affects the Harrah’s New Orleans casino, the state’s 15 riverboat casinos and the four racetracks with slot machines, often called “racinos.”

“I just thought it was time to pull the trigger in Louisiana, as tough as that decision is,” Jones, chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, said of his planned two-week ban. “This is a public health crisis, and that is more important than anything else now.”

Jones said he believes this is the first time that regulators have closed all state-licensed facilities statewide since Louisiana legalized gambling in the early 1990s.

To fight coronavirus spread, avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, President Trump says The White House is recommending that older people and those with underlying health conditions “stay home and away from other people” as it con…

One Indian casino — the Coushatta Resort in Kinder — announced Monday that it would shut as of midnight for at least two weeks. The other two Indian casinos were trying to determine their plans.

The governor’s order affects about 25,000 employees who work at the 20 casinos, the 199 truck stops and the four racetrack casinos. Exactly how many of them will lose their jobs — or how many of them will be paid during the furlough — is not clear.

The governor's order also affects the thousands of bars in 31 parishes throughout Louisiana that feature video poker machines. No one is sure how many employees they have.

Archdiocese of New Orleans cancels all Mass; area churches grapple with coronavirus The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans has canceled all Catholic Mass in the New Orleans area indefinitely due to social-distancing pro…

Closing the various forms of gambling will cost the state an estimated $60 million over the next month, or about 0.5% of overall state tax revenue for the year, said Jim Richardson, an LSU economist who closely tracks state revenues.

“It’s a significant number,” he said, adding that the effect of people losing paychecks will ripple throughout the economy and further reduce state tax receipts.

State officials acted Monday after the number of coronavirus cases spiked in Louisiana with reports of the first two deaths. At the same time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued new guidance Sunday that recommended canceling or postponing gatherings of more than 50 people.

Louisiana lab testing coronavirus samples had previous problems, regulators reported The state-run laboratory that’s testing hundreds of Louisianans for the coronavirus was at risk of losing its license in recent years after fe…

Jones noted that at least a dozen other states had closed their casinos. Mississippi announced Monday that it would shut down that day as well.

Wade Duty, the executive director of the Louisiana Casino Association, said his members had expected to be shut down. “There’s absolutely no pushback,” he said.

Duty said whether the idled employees continue to receive their salaries will depend on each property owner, but guessed that a majority will keep the paychecks flowing.

Caesars Entertainment will pay its employees over at least the next two weeks — including giving tipped employees their average wage — at Harrah’s New Orleans, the Horseshoe Bossier City and Louisiana Downs, also in Bossier Parish, said Dan Real, Caesars’ regional president.

“The most important factor is to ensure the safety of the employees and the customers,” Real said in an interview. “We’re in this for the long haul. If we have to be closed, so be it.”

Experimental coronavirus vaccine tested for 1st time Monday as pandemic surges SEATTLE (AP) — U.S. researchers gave the first shot to the first person in a test of an experimental coronavirus vaccine Monday -- leading off…

Alton Ashy, a lobbyist who represents truck stops, said his clients understand the governor’s decision.

“We’re in unknown territory about how this works,” Ashy said. “We’ve had three conference calls today. The first question out of everyone’s mouth is, ‘I’m concerned about employees and how I’m going to pay them.’ That’s the No. 1 concern of the industry.

“If this thing fizzles out, as everyone hopes, we’ll be open before April 13. If not, everybody will just have to hunker down.”

State law requires the gambling houses to have specific plans on how to shut down their operations, a process that can take up to 10 hours. The casinos and video poker parlors had to begin Monday afternoon to be totally shut down by midnight.

“There are strict and intensive auditing procedures, safety and surveillance issues to protect the property,” Jones said. “The electronic devices have to be screened and scanned. All the table games have to be secured — as well as the chips and markers. They have to account for everything in that casino — gross gaming revenues, the money that comes to the state. To maintain the integrity of the industry. There’s a reverse process to open.”