Patient with presumptive case of COVID-19 works at Wildhorse Resort and Casino, officials say

Courtesy of Wildhorse Resort and Casino

UMATILLA COUNTY, Ore. — Oregon’s third presumptive positive case of novel coronavirus has been identified in a Umatilla County resident, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced Monday. The patient was hospitalized in Walla Walla.

The Confederate Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation said the patient works at Wildhorse Resort and Casino outside Pendleton. The reservation said the casino will be temporarily closed to be sanitized starting Monday at noon.

The closure includes the casino, convention center, hotel, Cineplex, Children’s Entertainment Center and restaurants. All activities are cancelled including casino promotions and events until further notice, the casino said in a statement.

Additionally, the health officials said the patient attended a youth basketball game at a gym at Weston Middle School on Feb. 29. The Athena-Weston School District has closed the gym and will conduct a deep cleaning out of caution. The gym is not attached to the rest of the school.

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Under federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, other spectators who may have been in a closed environment with the individual would be considered “low-risk” exposures, the OHA said.

“Health officials do not consider the separate school building to pose any risk of exposure,” the health authority said. “The test on the sample was performed by Washington’s public health laboratory. The case was one of Oregon’s pending cases. Oregon health officials have updated their case and testing reports on OHA’s COVID-19 web page.”

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To help prevent the spread of this virus, health officials recommend the following:

· wash hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. If not available, use hand sanitizer

· avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands

· avoid contact with people who are sick

· stay home while you are sick and avoid close contact with others by not attending large events

· cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing

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