MGM Resorts will temporarily close buffets amid coronavirus concerns (Vegas)

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — MGM Resorts International says they will be temporarily closing their buffets at ARIA, Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Luxor and Excalibur amid coronavirus concerns.

The changes will go into effect on Sunday, March 15, according to their Public Relations department.

When asked about the buffet closures, MGM Resorts International sent the statement below to 8 News Now:

“The safety and health of guests and employees continue to be top priority as the company works with local health officials on protocol and procedures during this time.”

“...they should really cook their vegetables. A bout of a pathogen that causes someone to camp out in the bathroom can kill the elderly.”

I spent about three years in Thailand when I was young and my mother used to soak vegetable matter in a mixture of Artesian well water and Clorox. Because thai farming methods used natural human waste for fertilizer, at least they did back in the mid-sixties.

These days I eat vegetables cooked in what is known as waterless cookware which retains quite a few of the essential vitamins and nutrients in plant matter.

But there is always that lettuce on a sandwich with a cut up tomato that could be a problem. I’ve eliminated nightshades from my diet over the last 10 years as my doctor noticed a vitamin D deficiency in my blood work that is nagging and will not go away. After cutting out nightshades for about 6 months my blood panel came back with a reduced white blood cell count. Did the nightshades work at reducing my systemic inflammation? Truthfully, I don’t know, but it could be promising if the production or total abstinence from nightshade vegetables is in fact the reason for my decreased white blood cell count and subsequent systemic inflammation which has been chronic.

[We also have to allow for the possibility that China’s mortality rate figures even for declared cases at trending ever lower, were not totally on the up and up, and we may see higher mortality rates due to more accurate reporting outside China.]

You’re being very diplomatic. I’m fairly sure the Chinese numbers are garbage. There are any number of policy reasons they were fake initially. The principal reason they are fake now has to do with coaxing Chinese employees back to work. A workforce spooked by the apocalyptic measures taken by the government has reasons to be cautious. Foxconn, China’s biggest private sector employer, is having to pay bonuses amounting to a month’s salary, in some areas, to get people to come back to work:

https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/terence-p-jeffrey/workers-making-apple-iphones-start-315-hour-china

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3052124/foxconn-reportedly-dangles-us1000-bonus-new-workers-it-resumes
[It said last Thursday that it would “cautiously” resume output at its main factories in China, and local media outlets reported last week that it was giving returning workers a bonus of 3,000 yuan (US$427) over the span of three months for starting on time.

Now, it is offering new hires in its main assembly site in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan province, up to 7,000 yuan (US$995) in incentives if they meet certain conditions, according to a report by tech news site chinastarmarket.cn, citing local employment agencies.

New employees can receive 3,000 yuan after clocking 60 days of work and another 4,000 yuan after 90 days, according to a video report by financial newspaper National Business Daily on Sunday. The Post reported last year that the monthly income of workers of the factory was between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan, based on interviews with more than two dozen workers.]

[But there is always that lettuce on a sandwich with a cut up tomato that could be a problem.]

My solution to that problem? A clamshell panini maker (e.g. the $20 George Foreman grill) for white bread sandwich slices, and a toaster oven for sub/hoagie/hero sandwiches. Foil wrapped for non-crispy, uncovered for crispy.

It’s not perfect, but I expect temperatures in the sandwiches to reach 160F for the seconds necessary to kill the vast majority of pathogens. I also like the cheese in my sandwiches to be melted. And if my cold cuts are a little past their prime because they weren’t properly stored at the deli/grocery store, that treatment kills the bugs as well.

https://extension.umn.edu/food-service-industry/keep-food-safe-time-and-temperature-control
[Cooking temperatures

The following MUST be cooked to listed internal temperatures and times:
145 F or above for 15 seconds

Eggs for immediate service.
Fish (except as otherwise required).
Meat (except as otherwise required).
Commercially raised game animals (except as otherwise required).

155 F or above for 15 seconds, or
150 F or above for one minute, or
145 F or above for three minutes

Chopped or ground meat.
Chopped or ground fish.
Chopped or ground commercially raised game animals.
Pork.
Injected meats.
Eggs cooked for hot holding.

165 F or above for 15 seconds

Poultry.
Stuffed food products.
Stuffing containing fish, meat, poultry or wild game animals.]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.