Atlantic City is taking some steps to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. Starting next week, some hotels in the city will reopen.

“I’m happy to announce that effective Friday, May 29, all online marketplace Airbnb short-term rentals will be allowed to operate in the city of Atlantic City, as well as all hotels,” Mayor Marty Small said.

But casinos will not be allowed to reopen.

“That is a decision that is driven by the state of New Jersey governor’s office, as well as gaming enforcement,” said Small.

The city’s nine casinos and their hotels will remain closed. It is a decision that is baffling to some casino workers.

“If you are going to come down and stay at a Holiday Inn and you’re going to order food and you’re going to relax on the beach and you’re going to walk on the boardwalk with 50,000 other people – then if that’s safe, I do not understand the difference between a Holiday Inn and opening the casino hotel next door,” says Harrah’s bartender Jason McKnight.

McKnight is a member of Unite Here 54, a union that represents thousands of casino workers. He says that he is hoping that when they reopen, everyone – including guests – will be required to wear masks and have their temperatures taken. He also hopes for COVID-19 testing for all casino employees.

“We want to know that the people we’re standing next to and working with for 8-10 hour shifts, that we know that they’ve been tested and they’re negative,” he says.

Mayor Small acknowledges that casinos will look different when they are allowed to reopen, but he says that the city is not ready at the moment.

Small also announced that the city is expanding testing. He says that the city will now test asymptomatic people, as well as any first responder that works in the city.