Mono Wind is fifth tribal casino in Central California to close as a coronavirus precaution
The last holdout among Indian casinos in the central San Joaquin Valley against closing as a coronavirus precaution has shut its doors until at least March 31.
The Mono Wind Casino in Auberry, in the Sierra foothills northeast of Fresno, announced its closure in an Instagram post and on its website on Monday.
While the casino is shuttered, other services on the property are open, including a general store and gas station. The casino’s restaurant is also open, but only for take-out orders, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Mono Wind’s closure came days after other Valley casinos decided to temporarily suspend operations to avoid the potential spread of coronavirus among employees and patrons. The Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino in Coarsegold and Tachi Palace Casino and Resort in Lemoore both closed Friday evening.
The Table Mountain Casino in Friant was the first of the region’s Indian casinos to close, shutting its doors on March 16; the Eagle Mountain Casino near Porterville followed suit two days later. In the meantime, the Club One cardroom in downtown Fresno and the 500 Club in Clovis also announced temporary closures.
Mono Wind managers had initially reduced its casino hours from 24 hours to opening at 8 a.m. and closing at midnight, and beefing up sterilization procedures during off-hours. It was also limiting the number of patrons allowed in the casino at any one time.
But in Monday’s announcement, Mono Wind officials said the closure now “serves as a precaution to the novel (COVID-19) and the CDC recommendations, and in collaboration with Governor Newsom and our local government.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom last week issued a sweeping directive for Californians to stay home and shelter in place to avoid exposing themselves or others to the fast-spreading novel coronavirus, also called COVID-19.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 10:57 AM.
