Card Room in Sacramento Closes Only 3 Days after Reopening, Employee Tested Positive for COVID-19

Parkwest Casino Lotus in Sacramento, CA closed after only a few days of operations due to the positive COVID-19 test of an employee. Other amusement venues were cleared to restart operation on June 12, but following strict health and safety protocols.

COVID-19 Positive Employee at Parkwest Casino Lotus Leads to Closure of Cardroom

A card room in Sacramento, California was closed last week on Friday because of a positive COVID-19 case. The closed venue was Parkwest Casino Lotus, which is on Stockton Boulevard in south Sacramento. The card room had just reopened on Tuesday June 16 following three months of suspended operations and was forced to close again. Parkwest spokesman, Roger Salazar, said that deep cleaning along with sanitation and disinfection would be conducted at the card room. The spokesman said that the company had already informed the County’s health officials regarding the COVID-19 case on Friday.

He further noted “Parkwest is following all public health guidelines and protocols and, in order to ensure customer and employee safety, the casino is closed until we are certain it is safe.” With that being said, it’s important to mention that after only few days of an operation, the venue is shut with no reopening date announced for the moment.

Three-Month Shutdown is Finally Over

California’s non-essential businesses such as movie theaters, casinos, card rooms, amusement parks and others were closed back in mid-March. June 15 marked exactly three months since the shutdown of Parkwest Casino Lotus. As noted, the venue did open last week on Tuesday, June 16 but was shut down again on Friday because of the reported COVID-19 case.

Casinos, card rooms and other amusement places were included in Phase 3 of the state’s plan for reopening of the businesses. As of June 12, following an order by Governor Gavin Newsom, those businesses were allowed to restart operations.

However, the venues which returned to business had to follow guidelines set by the state officials. Similar to other states, all venues which resumed works had to implement social distancing protocols. Enhanced sanitation and disinfection was introduced to each venue. Mask us and hand sanitizer use were also a part of the measures outlined by the state officials. In the event of a proven COVID-19 case, the guidelines note that the employee must be isolated and his recent contacts must be located.

The Lotus cardroom as well as Lodi card room are two out of five properties by Parkwest Casinos that resumed operations. Looking at the bigger picture, there are some 73 card rooms in California which are licensed. Elsewhere, in Oklahoma, two casino operators closed their venues temporarily following an employee’s positive test for COVID-19. The venues Black Hawk Casino in Shawnee and Sac and Fox Casino in Stroud shut their doors on Monday. Similar to Lotus, the venues will undergo deep sanitation and cleaning before welcoming guests again.