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First U.S. Casino Closes Over Coronavirus Outbreak

Wildhorse Resort And Casino In Oregon Close After Employee Tested Positive

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An Oregon casino is closed for business after one of its employees tested positive for coronavirus.

Wildhorse Resort and Casino in Pendleton closed for the first time in its 25-year history as a precaution stemming from the ‘presumptive positive’ test result. All hotel reservations and community events at the tribal casino have been canceled.

According to the East Oregonian, the employee is an adult male and has been transported to a hospital in Walla Walla, Washington. The casino resort is going through a deep cleaning process and is expected to reopen next Tuesday.

According to a spokesperson for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the employee worked in a confined area of the casino and was not interacting with customers.

This is the third case of coronavirus in the state. The first two reported cases were in the Portland Metro area. At the time of writing, the United States is up to 107 confirmed cases with six deaths and eight recoveries, according to Johns Hopkins University. There are nearly 93,000 cases worldwide.

All six deaths came from Washington, where the virus has made its biggest impact. There are 14 confirmed cases in King County, located just east of Seattle and another four cases in Snohomish County, located northeast of Washington’s major metropolitan area. One person has completely recovered.

The virus originated in Wuhan China and has infected more than 80,000 people in mainland China and killed 3,131 people. Casinos in Macau were shut down for two weeks in February as a precaution to help contain the virus’s reach.