Some of the highest unemployment numbers in Connecticut post-COVID-19 are in the communities around the state’s two tribal-run casinos.
Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, two of the world’s largest casinos, have furloughed about 10,000 employees. They’ve so far maintained workers’ health insurance. But Foxwoods says it can no longer sustain health insurance and are planning for layoffs at the end of the month.
The chair of the Mashantucket Pequot, which operates Foxwoods, says the casino is losing millions of dollars a week on the closures. The casinos aren’t among the businesses planning to reopen on May 20.
The area around the casinos has seen relatively few COVID-19 cases. Most of the state’s cases are in Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford Counties.
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