Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Hotel & Casino closing for outbreak
Potawatomi Hotel & Casino will suspend operations indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak, it was announced Monday morning.
The closure will begin at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Employees will be paid during the closure.
“At this time, the health and safety of our guests and the 2,700 team members at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino is the top priority,” said Rodney Ferguson, chief executive officer and general manager.
“We will remain in communication with local health officials and update guests, team members and community as warranted,” Ferguson said in a statement.
That news comes as one casino employee is recovering from an illness with symptoms similar to COVID-19.
Anthony Langkau, of Menomonee Falls, said his wife, a casino floor manager, became sick late last week. Her symptoms included fever, cough and feeling run down, he said.
He declined to provide her name because casino employees are not authorized to speak to the news media.
Langkau’s wife began feeling better on Sunday. But her doctor declined to do a COVID-19 test because there was no proof she had direct contact with another person with the illness.
Her experience led Langkau to write a letter to Gov. Tony Evers, asking him to order the casinos be closed. A similar order was issued in Illinois.
Casinos, with a large proportion of elderly patrons and activities that involve close personal contact, are “tailor made” to spread illnesses — despite steppedup cleaning, Langkau said.
Evers on Monday directed Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm to issue an agency order prohibiting mass gatherings of 50 people or more statewide to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
However, it is the decision of the tribes, which operate independently, as to whether to comply with that order, Evers said at a press conference.
Neither Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin, which has operations throughout central and northern Wisconsin, nor Oneida Casino, which has operations in Green Bay, has yet announced plans to shut down — except in Madison.
That casino will close starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday, with plans to reopen on April 1, said Missy Tracy, municipal relations coordinator for Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison.
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin’s elected officials were meeting Monday afternoon “to discuss our options,” said Tim Gamble, executive secretary to Marlon WhiteEagle, nation president.
Its other casinos are in Wisconsin Dells, Black River Falls, Nekoosa, Tomah and Wittenberg.
Meanwhile, casinos outside Wisconsin are closing, or have announced plans to shut down, in response to the pandemic.
Wynn Resorts announced it would close its Wynn Las Vegas and Encore properties starting Tuesday, while MGM Resorts International said it would shutter all Las Vegas casino operations on Monday and that the hotels would close on Tuesday, the Washington Post reported.
Also, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Sunday ordered the state’s casinos, racetracks and simulcast betting facilities to close indefinitely.
In addition, the Illinois Gaming Board has ordered all of the state’s 10 casinos to close for 14 days beginning Monday, according to the Chicago Tribune.