The Gila River Hotels and Casinos has confirmed the temporary closure of all three of its properties for two weeks due to recent COVID-19 spikes in Arizona.
During the closure of its Wild Horse Pass, Lone Butte, and Vee Quiva casinos, the company has assured guests that it will ‘reassess its current safety standards’ following feedback from the community and its workers.
Due to the closure, all hotel reservations for arrival dates up to July 19 of this year have been cancelled with guests fully refunded.
A statement issued via sociall media read: “To protect the health and safety of our team members and guests, Gila River Hotels & Casinos will be temporarily closing for two weeks to mitigate recent COVID-19 spikes in Arizona. All team members will be on paid leave while receiving benefits during this time.
“The closure will be effective for all three properties beginning at 2am on June 18. We will use this time to reexamine all aspects of our operations. This includes disinfection procedures, social distancing measures, health checks, testing protocols, masking and how best to protect workers and everyone who visits our properties.
“Throughout the closure, we will continue to monitor updates from the CDC and the Arizona Department of Health Services, and will update our safety protocols and procedures as necessary.”
Throughout the closure, Gila River Hotels and Casinos has stated that it will continue to monitor updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Arizona Department of Health Service.
The reassessment of the casinos safety procedure follows the death of one of its security guard employees, Robert Washington, who died in hospital on June 11 due to ‘complications related to COVID-19’ according to his family.
Reported on azcentral.com, Mr. Washington’s daughter expressed concerns about the safety measures at the casino. She said: “The day after reopening, he was like, ‘Lina, it was awful, it was horrible. The line was around the corner. 80 per cent of the people weren’t wearing masks.”
