As casinos begin to reopen in the US amidst the coronavirus pandemic, they are held to certain restrictions and rules to provide a safe and healthy environment for guests and employees. Despite the stringent measures in place though, employees at some venues are testing positive. A casino in New York is now pushing preventative measures after an employee tested positive. In Oregon, a casino was forced to close due to an infected employee.
Niagara Falls Casino Takes New Precautions
The Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino of Niagara Falls is one of the most recent casinos affected by the virus. Preventative measures are now being taken after an employee tested positive for Covid-19. The employee July 4 and was wearing a face mask before discovering the diagnosis. The employee is now at home and the casino operator is working on finding out who the person may have been in contact with.
Team members who may have encountered the individual are given resources for testing as well as asked to seek medical attention. The area where the employee worked is unknown, but the operator did state it was deep cleaned.
Indian Head Casino Closes
Just under three weeks after reopening, the Indian Head Casino in Oregon has shut back down. A staff member tested positive for the virus and the casino is working to make sure that no other employees are positive.
The casino reopened on June 18 but had to shut down last week due to the positive test result. The team member found out about a need to test after being located via contract tracing. The casino has around 200 employees and was trying to get back to normal in this new covid-19 world.
The casino implemented several safety protocols upon reopening and felt that they were creating a safe space for guests and employees. Since the new closure, the casino has been deep cleaned as they prepare to reopen.
The venue is waiting to make sure that there are no more positive cases within their team member ranks before opening back up.
Similar fates have been taking place across the United States. It was expected as casinos and other businesses reopened that new positive cases would occur. The coronavirus spreads easily from an infected person from just speaking as well as sneezing or coughing. The virus can live on surfaces, so it can also be transmitted to another person from touching affected areas.
Unfortunately, the virus can live inside a human and that person is asymptomatic. The individual has no idea they are a carrier and can easily infect someone if they do not wear a mask, wash their hands, etc. The casinos have tried to combat this fact by encouraging or requiring mask wearing. However, customers do not seem willing in some states to follow this simple move to avoid contracting the virus.
It will be interesting to see in the coming weeks if the casino reopenings across the US are soon plagued with an influx of positive test results. Hopefully, all the protocols are being followed and employees as well as guests are able to avoid contracting the deadly virus.
