Closed indefinitely
More than three-quarters of the casinos in the United States have reopened after closing for at least two months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The problem with celebrating being “OPEN FOR BUSINESS” is that you expose more people to the virus, especially in a crowded, closed environment like a casino. Now, I’m not going to say, “I told you so,” but casinos now experiencing problems is not particularly surprising. In Oklahoma, two casinos – Black Hawk Casino in Shawnee and Sac and Fox Casino in Stroud – shut down once again because an employee tested positive for COVID-19.
Both casinos are operated by the Sac and Fox Nation. On its Facebook page, the tribe posted a message on Monday explaining that “out of an abundance of caution,” the two casinos will be closed “until further notice.”
“During the temporary closure, both facilities will be deep cleaned and disinfected,” the statement read. “A comprehensive health and sanitation program is in place and officials from the Sac and Fox Nation are working with the Nation’s Chief Medical Officer to ensure the safety of all employees and guests.”
Oklahoma getting worse
Oklahoma is in the bottom half of the states in terms of total confirmed cases of COVID-19, but its numbers have been skyrocketing lately. In the last two weeks, its seven-day moving average of new cases has been one of the steepest in the country. Several single-day records for the state have been set since mid-June.
The state has eclipsed 11,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday and has 371 confirmed deaths.
This is not the first Oklahoma casino to have an employee catch the novel coronavirus. A month ago, Charlie Welbourne, the CEO of Lucky Star Casino informed employees that a staff member at the Concho location tested positive. The casino did not re-close, saying that health officials advised that it was safe to continue operations. One policy did change: patrons, who were only advised to wear protective face masks, were now required to wear them.
Arizona casino employee dies
Arizona has also had casinos shut down not long after re-opening. Last week, Gila River announced that its locations in Lone Butte, Wild Horse Pass, and Vee Quiva would close for two weeks after a security guard passed away after contracting COVID-19.
68-year old Robert Washington died of COVID-19 related complications on June 11, less than a month after returning to work. His daughter, Lina Washington, places the blame squarely on the casino operator, saying customers were not required to wear face masks, putting employees at greater risk. Mr. Washington, was particularly high risk, being diabetic and having recently recovered from prostate cancer.
Lina Washington said that her father called her on May 16, worried that nobody was social distancing at Gila River’s Lone Butte Casino and very few customers wore masks. He added that the casino pulled one over on the media during public walkthroughs, making it look like things were safer than they were.
