The Wildhorse Resort & Casino in Pendleton has been cleared to reopen after an initial scare that a staffer had fallen sick of COVID-19 was put to rest.

The casino reopened on Wednesday afternoon and has undergone a careful inspection process from public health officials which cleared the property to continue doing business as usual.

COVID-19 Scare Sends Wildhorse Resort in Protective Overdrive

In a press statement sharing the reopening, Gary George, the casino CEO, said that Wildhorse has exceeded sanitary expectations, and stressed that the well-being of people who work and visit the resort is the utmost priority for the establishment.

The casino had to quickly wind down operations on Monday amid a scare that an employee had presumably tested positive for COVID-19.

The decision came from the Board of Trustees of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, which said that the casino should close the main building to minimize the risk of spreading and further cases.

In the hours following the decision, Wildhorse started sanitizing surfaces across its main venues, including the casino and hotel, the Children’s Entertainment center, arcade, restaurants, administrative offices, and the Cineplex.

To ensure the risk of transmitting any lingering COVID-19 virus is kept to a minimum, the casino deployed the Clorox Total 360 System, which is used to sanitize schools, hospitals, and clinics.

According to Wildhorse, the employee who was thought to have tested positive had limited exposure to other members of the staff, as they worked in a restricted area of the building that had no contact with the kitchen or the main floors.

Very Low Risk of Exposing Employees – No Risk to Guests

Wildhorse has also said that based on the Centers for Disease Control information, the people who may have come in contact with the employee, even in a closed environment, would be at a minimum risk of exposure or catching the virus.

This is not the first instance of a casino shutting down temporarily or partially to ensure that no COVID-19 is spread on its premises. Recently, the Indian Head Casino in Warm Springs followed a similar process after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.

Casinos are not risking a repeat of the situation which saw Las Vegas casinos shuttered for 78 days, leading to a gutting economic blow to Nevada and the industry as a whole. Recovery is still undergoing, but no one takes the risk of COVID-19 mildly even two years after COVID-19 was supposedly defeated.

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