Wildhorse Resort & Casino announced today that the casino is temporarily closing in order to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus in the region and allow employees to follow social distancing recommendations.
The casino closed at noon today and will re-open on April 8.
The tower hotel will continue to operate allowing 100 rooms in a staggered pattern to be occupied; rooms in the Courtyard Hotel will not be available. The Children’s Entertainment Center, arcade, Sports Bar and Lobby Bar are part of the closure.
Wildhorse Golf Course, Arrowhead Travel Plaza, Mission Market, Hamley & Co, and the Golf Course at Birch Creek will remain open and all food service is limited to take-out only. Plateau will be closed.
This announcement follows a 48-hour closure earlier in the month of the main facility that houses the casino, hotel, Cineplex, restaurants and children’s areas. The time was used to deeply sanitize the building after an employee tested presumptive positive for COVID-19. Since then, no other employees of Wildhorse have tested positive for the virus.
“Wildhorse employees have done an outstanding job of maintaining a sanitary environment in which our patrons can play and eat, our guests can stay, and our staff can work,” said CEO Gary George. “But in order to do our part in protecting communities as a whole and to align with the recommendations of tribal, state, and federal governments, it’s necessary to take the difficult step of closing part of our facility for a limited time.”
While casino employees will be furloughed, other teams will continue to work on site. Social distancing and sanitary practices will be comprehensively managed.
This month, a COVID-19 Incident Command Center was established by the Board of Trustees of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) to centralize direction for the CTUIR government, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center and Tribal enterprises during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is within this authority, and by adoption of the Oregon State Health Standards as enacted by Gov. Brown, that this closure is fully supported.
Wildhorse, with nearly 1,000 employees, will continue to pay the wages and medical benefits for its casino and resort employees affected by the closure through the end of the month.
