Table Mountain, Eagle Mountain casinos announce temporary closures as coronavirus precaution
Table Mountain Casino in Friant planned to close its doors in response to growing coronavirus concerns and calls by health officials to limit public exposure at entertainment venues.
The Table Mountain Rancheria Tribal Council and the casino’s board of directors met Sunday and reached the decision to close at 6 p.m. Monday, according to a statement posted to the casino’s Twitter and Facebook pages. The closure will continue through March 31.
Monday evening, Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville followed suit, saying it will close beginning at 4 a.m. Wednesday tentatively through April 3. In a release, the casino said the decision was reached after a Monday meeting between casino management, the casino gaming commission, the Tule River Tribal Council and the Tule River Public Health Authority.
Eagle Mountain had already announced cancellation of two scheduled events: a Bell Biv DeVoe concert on March 20 and an April 4 appearance by “Hollywood Medium” Tyler Henry.
Both Table Mountain and Eagle Mountain said their tribes will continue to pay employees’ base pay rates and maintain benefits during the temporary closure.
And both said they’d use the time during the closure to do a deep cleaning and sanitize their properties.
“Table Mountain Casino remains unified in the protection of our guests, casino team members and their families, our tribal community, as well as the many vendors we utilize in our operations,” its statement said. The tribe noted that no one, to casino officials’ knowledge, at the property has been exposed to coronavirus.
On Friday, the state Department of Public Health issued recommendations to entertainment venues in California, including casinos, to minimize coronavirus exposure. The measures for gambling venues included more frequent cleaning of chips, card-shuffling machines and other gaming equipment, more frequent cleaning and disposal of playing cards, encourage social distancing of six feet between people except for allowing family members to play together, and limiting the number of people in lines.
Indian tribes are considered sovereign states and are not bound by state government regulations. But the decision to close Table Mountain came two days after the state health department issued its guidance and additional recommendations were announced by state and federal health officials to further limit gatherings to reduce the potential for exposure.
“Our prayers go out to all of the families and nations who have been impacted by this virus. Today is the day we stand together and join forces to protect our people,” Table Mountain’s statement said.
On Sunday, Fresno County announced a second person in the county has tested positive for coronavirus. Tulare County also has reported two infections.
No action by other Valley casinos
Other casinos operated by tribes around the central San Joaquin Valley, including Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in Coarsegold, Mono Wind Casino in Auberry and Tachi Palace Casino Resort in Lemoore, had not opted to follow Table Mountain’s lead as of Monday afternoon.
Representatives from the other tribal casinos did not return phone messages left by The Bee to address any COVID-19 limitations they might take. The websites for the Chukchansi Gold and Tachi Palace casinos included statements to guests outlining the increased cleaning and sanitation measures being taken to reduce prospects for the virus to be spread.
Table Mountain and Eagle Mountain are among at least six Indian casinos in California, and at least 17 nationwide, to announce temporary closures because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Monday afternoon report by Native News Online. Two of Las Vegas’ major gaming companies, MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts, announced that they were suspending their casino and hotel operations starting Tuesday.
This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 7:53 PM.