Tribal Casinos Continue To Serve Customers Amid Stay-At-Home Orders

At the time when many restaurants are compelled to stop offering their in-person dining services this month because of the stay-at-home orders, one of the restaurant owners in Riverside County was shocked to see that some of his regular customers were partying and having a night out fun at a tribal casino nearby.
As the gaming facilities owned by tribes are not subject to the regional stay-at-home orders by the state, many of these facilities are keeping their bars, restaurants, and gambling locations open for the public in California. This is happening at a time when limited data indicates outbreaks being caused at some casinos in California.
As per a report published by KPBS this week, from June to December in San Diego County, there have been more than 630 cases of Covid-19 related to the seven casinos in the area. This report also said that if a case was being linked to a casino, then it means that one person was present in the casino or anywhere else for approximately 14 days without knowing that they have COVID-19. Now this person could have contracted the disease before coming there.
Officials in Riverside County have noted six different outbreaks of 3 or more cases in each outbreak between June 2020 and November 2020 at the casinos in the area. These documented outbreaks happened in 60% of the total casinos in the county. There are 10 casinos in the county out of which 6 have seen these outbreaks and have seen more than 55 associated cases. The officials in the county said that the total number of probable exposures that are linked to the data of casinos is not yet available.
When spoken to the employees of different tribal casinos, they said that they have problems working in large closed spaces with hundreds of guests and customers. But they cannot quit their jobs because they are worried about being without health insurance and job.

Mary Polemi

Working as a freelance contributor for several news platforms over the years, Mary Polemi has a well-thriving interest in the casino industry. At Casino Cross, she contributes her knowledge and expertise in reporting Casino News.