Some California casinos bet on reopening, but don’t gamble your life with COVID-19
If you wouldn’t bet your life on a card game, don’t even think about visiting a casino during the coronavirus pandemic.
Casinos around California are preparing to reopen their doors for business even though Gov. Gavin Newsom has pleaded with them to wait. But the casinos, located on tribal land and operated by California Indian tribes, enjoy sovereignty. So, they can simply ignore the governor and reopen before it’s safe.
“None of the six casinos that ring the Sacramento area have announced reopening dates, but as retailers and other segments of the broader economy begin to awaken from the COVID-19 shutdown, the Indian tribes that operate the region’s casinos are reconfiguring their venues to accommodate public health guidelines,” reports Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee.
Sacramento-area casinos remain closed for now, though the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sacramento in Wheatland hopes to open by the end of the month. But some gambling establishments in Southern California reopened this week, ignoring Newsom’s request. The Viejas Casino and Resort in San Diego County drew large crowds on Monday.
“I understand that some tribal governments are planning on reopening casinos on their lands,” Newsom wrote in a letter to tribal leaders. “This deeply concerns me, and I urge tribal governments to reconsider and instead make those determinations based on how they align with the current local public health conditions and the statewide stage of reopening.”
“Newsom reminded them that more than 75,000 Californians have tested positive for COVID-19 in 54 of the state’s 58 counties and the numbers are increasing,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
The Bee reported that some Northern California casinos are taking steps to prepare for reopening soon.
“Northern California’s casinos are gearing up to reopen — with temperature stations to screen customers for COVID-19 and fewer slot machines to create social distancing,” wrote Kasler.
The decision by some to rush the reopening California’s gaming facilities is both understandable and regrettable. Gaming tribes depend on casinos for their survival.
“Tribal casinos in California have become an $8 billion a year business, and the Sacramento casinos operate as many slot machines as Reno’s,” wrote Kasler. “The abrupt shutdown of the industry in mid-March has depleted the tribes of their main revenue sources.”
But this is still no excuse to disregard public health experts and risk lives by drawing large numbers of people from different communities into a common space during this coronavirus pandemic.
This means it’s up to individuals to decide whether a clearly non-essential diversion like gambling is worth the risk of serious illness and death. The answer may seem like a clear “no,” but people struggling with a gambling addiction may be tempted. Gaming is also a popular pastime with senior citizens, the population segment with the highest COVID-19 death rate.
Ideally, casino operators would hold off on reopening until it’s safe to do so instead of creating potential COVID-19 hotspots at their gaming tables. Ultimately, however, Californians must consider the potentially severe consequences and decide whether to bet it all on COVID-19, which has infected nearly 79,000 and killed 3,200 in California so far.
Please don’t roll the dice with death. Stay away from the casinos until it’s safe.