Pala Casino Opening
Pala Casino Spa and Resort; Address: 11154 Highway 76 Pala, California 92059 USA: Opening date: April 3, 2001: No. Of rooms 500 (82 suites) Total gaming space: 86,000-square-foot (8,000 m 2).
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Pala Casino Spa & Resort is scheduled to reopen at the end of the week, it was announced Wednesday.
The Pala Band of Mission Indians said the casino will open -- in a limited capacity -- to the public on Friday, May 22, at 10 a.m. Pala Casino, and other San Diego County casinos, temporarily shut down in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Looooove Pala, but went their on Tuesday and right off walked in during a man running through casino beating customers. At least 50 law enforcement were onsite they were talking about nothing. Couldn't believe what happened next. The smell inside the casino was like putting your nose into an ash tray. When are you reopening? The casino will be open starting Friday, May 22 at 10 a.m. The casino will remain open 24-7. Food and Beverage outlets that will be open will have reduced hours of operation to allow time to thoroughly sanitize each day, as set forth by governmental guidelines.
Pala Casino Open Or Not
Viejas and Sycuan casinos have reopened this week, with Jamul slated to reopen Thursday. Valley View and Harrah's are scheduled to reopen on Friday.
Pala Casino’s reopening will be in phases, and officials said numerous health and safety measures will be in place to protect guests and staff.
In a statement, casino officials said the protocols include:
- Increasing cleaning and disinfecting protocols which focus on “high touch” areas like handrails, elevator buttons, doors and countertops and coordinating with vendors to ensure that they are following similar practices
- Placing non-invasive thermal camera scanners at all team member and guest entrances. If a temperature is detected, the individual will be asked to leave the property.
- Encouraging social distancing by reconfiguring the casino floor, reducing the number of seats offered at each table game and reducing the number of operational slots
- Enforcing social distancing of 6 feet where lines congregate, including the Cage, Privileges Club counter and all restaurants
- Meticulously sanitizing chips and changing cards on handheld games more frequently
- Requiring that all team member who come in close contact with guests wear protective facemasks
- Providing hand sanitizing stations for team members and guests throughout the property
- Placing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signage throughout the property, which encourages good personal hygiene and provides guidance to reduce the spread of COVID-19
- Proactively monitoring and removing guests who are outwardly showing flu-like symptoms
- All processes that require the exchange of personal items like currency, credit cards and luggage will be handled using personal protective equipment and sanitization methods to minimize exposure.
- Updating the Pala Casino website daily to provide current information about the resort, scheduled events and COVID-19 updates
In addition to the health and safety measures, casino officials said maximum guest occupancy will limited to 50 percent in all of its gaming areas.
There will also be limited menus and hours for food and beverage service. Officials added, “The reduced hours of operation for food outlets will allow for thorough daily sanitizing of each restaurant.”
Fred Buro, CEO of Pala Casino Spa & Resort, said, “We look forward to welcoming our guests and team members back to the property. Over the last several weeks, the leadership team at Pala Casino Spa & Resort has been working diligently to develop a customized reopening plan that encourages social distancing, increases cleaning and disinfecting protocols and further protects the health and safety of our guests and employees. While we are eager to reopen, we remain dedicated to carefully monitoring this evolving situation and following the advice and guidance of federal and state officials and public health agencies.”
LATEST UPDATES: Tracking COVID-19 Racial Justice
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
By Amita Sharma
Credit: Viejas Casino Resort
Above: The east entrance to the hotel at Viejas Casino Resort in Alpine in this undated photo.
Listen to the Podcast Episode
Sycuan, Viejas and others have announced plans to reopen. County health officials say they’re working with the CDC to “address the issue.”
Aired: May 14, 2020
+ Subscribe to this podcastWhile schools and government offices grapple over how to safely reopen as the coronavirus pandemic shows no sign of abating, some of the area’s tribal casinos such as Sycuan, Valley View and Viejas, say they’re ready to resume business next week.
But county health officials aren’t happy with the plan and are asking the federal government to help keep the casinos closed.
”We want to make it perfectly clear that we do not agree with reopening casinos on May 18,” County Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten said. “We feel that the health officers’ order does extend to our tribal nations in this particular situation and we’re working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to try to address this issue further.”
Casinos are owned by Native American tribes that are considered sovereign nations and are not subject to state and county laws.
They were some of the last businesses to close in March as the pandemic started spreading in California.
The casinos say their plans to reopen next week come with strict social distancing and hygiene requirements along with cutting-edge cleaning technology.
“We are excited to welcome back our guests and start bringing back the hospitality, gaming and fun that Sycuan Casino Resort is known for,” said Cody Martinez, chairman for the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, which is planning to reopen on May 20.
Sycuan says its reopening will be staggered.
In phase one, every other slot machine will be turned off for social distancing. Table games such as blackjack will be allowed a maximum of three players.
The casino has installed plexiglass shields and thermal cameras to spot fevers. And Sycuan claims its property now has a “long-term” disinfecting coating that “destroys bacteria and viruses on contact.”
Pala Casino Opening Date
“Over the past several weeks, we have made extensive changes at our property and implemented an aggressive health and sanitation program to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect our guests and team members for our reopening,” Martinez said.
Other casinos, including Valley View and Viejas, slated to reopen next week, are also touting their efforts to keep their businesses virus-free.
In addition to requiring face masks and social distancing, Viejas highlighted its investment in what it calls “new cutting edge UV germicidal technology.”
“This investment is a scaled approach that will eventually protect you passively, providing medical-grade, hospital clean conditions not matched anywhere else,” the casino said on its website.
Karl Steinberg, a North County physician, said despite the sanitation efforts, reopening casinos while people are still getting infected with COVID-19, is dangerous.
“I think this is an ill-advised time to be reopening a place like a casino that can be really like a petri dish for bacterial growth,” Steinberg said. “There’s going to be no way to prevent it because people can be shedding the virus even though they’re not running a fever. And there’s really no way to do social distancing in a casino.”
Steinberg and others are especially concerned about seniors, who are some of the most avid casino patrons. He said he will tell his elderly patients to “stay the heck out of casinos.”
Barona and Pala casino operators say they’ve not made a decision yet on when to reopen
Aired 6/24/20 on KPBS News
Listen to this story by Amita Sharma.
Amita Sharma
Investigative Reporter
As an investigative reporter for KPBS, I've helped expose political scandals and dug into intractable issues like sex trafficking. I've raised tough questions about how government treats foster kids. I've spotlighted the problem of pollution in poor neighborhoods. And I've chronicled corporate mistakes and how the public sometimes ends up paying for them.
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