Charles Grassley is asking the Department of the Interior and the National Indian Gaming Commission to intervene and reopen the Meskwaki Casino near Tampa so a Sac & Fox Tribe of the.

Meskwaki Casino tentative reopening set July 1. The Meskwaki Bingo. Casino. Hotel, rural Tama, is now tentatively scheduled to reopen on Wednesday, July 1. This was the announcement made on the Sac and Fox Tribe social media page today - Friday May 29. Games will resume 10 a.m. 31, at the Meskwaki Bingo-Casino-Hotel in Tama, said Betsy McCloskey, executive director of marketing. 'Oh this is great. This is the news we have been waiting for. Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke are key risk factors for susceptibility to more severe COVID-19 symptoms because of their impact on underlying health conditions like heart disease, diminished lung function, weakened immune system, and associated risk of respiratory illness. Meskwaki also reopened as a smoke-free facility, issuing on a complete ban on smoking or vaping in the building. That said, there are designated smoking areas 50 feet from entrances. For the first phase of reopening, Meskwaki is also not allowing anyone under the age of 21 to enter the property.

Posted on: May 26, 2020, 02:51h.

Last updated on: May 26, 2020, 03:53h.

Iowa casinos are being allowed to reopen on June 1, but under a series of strict regulations designed to protect employees and guests.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) ordered the state’s 19 commercial casinos to suspend their operations effective March 17. Several casinos, including Prairie Meadows, the richest commercial casino in terms of gross gaming revenue (GGR), announced they would close prior to her order.

The governor’s Public Health Disaster Emergency proclamation runs until June 25. But the Republican is issuing orders beforehand to allow certain businesses to reopen.

On Tuesday, Reynolds’ newest proclamation allows casinos, outdoor performance venues, bowling alleys, amusement parks, skating rinks, skate parks, and outdoor playgrounds to reopen next month if “public health measures are implemented.”

Recovery means striking a balance between getting life and business back to normal while continuing to manage the virus activity,” Reynolds said Tuesday. “Our recovery is contingent upon our ability to protect both the lives and livelihoods of Iowans. We can’t prioritize one over the other.”

For casinos, the establishment must limit the number of patrons present on the gaming floor and waging area to 50 percent. The casino must also reduce its number of gaming positions (slot machines and table game seats) by half.

Casino Restrictions

Along with reduced capacity, Iowa casinos will need to ensure social distancing, and keep all gaming positions at least six feet apart. For table games, protective barriers such as plexiglass satisfy the social distancing requirement.

Casino restaurants are not allowed to reopen buffets or salad bars, and the property must increase hygiene practices.

Prairie Meadows reported GGR of $208.28 million in 2019. That’s more than 14 percent of the $1.467 billion the 19 commercial casinos won last year. The casino and horse racetrack is owned by Polk County, and laid off nearly all of its 1,300 workers last month.

Caesars Entertainment’s Horseshoe Council Bluffs was next at $172.96 million, and Penn National Gaming’s Ameristar third at $159.13 million.

Iowa is also home to three tribal casinos – WinnaVegas Casino Resort in Sloan, Blackbird Bend Casino in Onawa, and Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel in Tama. Since they are Native American enterprises on sovereign territory, they do not have to follow state orders.

But all three tribal casinos closed back in March. The Winnebago Tribe says WinnaVegas will open tomorrow, May 27. The Meskwaki Nation’s Shelter-in-Place Declaration runs through June 1, and hasn’t announced a reopening for its casino. Blackbird hasn’t annoucned a reopening either.

Tama Casino Meskwaki Reopening

Coronavirus Spreading

Reynolds, unlike the majority of governors in the United States, never issued a stay-at-home order on Iowans.

The governor instead closed many businesses and schools, and prohibited large gatherings. Last week, she reopened bars, wineries, breweries, distilleries, and social clubs.

Meskwaki Hotel And Casino

Reynolds’ continued easing of restrictions comes as Iowa is seeing an increase in COVID-19 deaths. The state reported 26 deaths on Saturday, its highest single-day number. Iowa has the 12th highest per capita coronavirus rate in the US.

Perdue Farms revealed new outbreaks at its plants in Sioux Center and Sioux City today.

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Iowa’s casinos say they aren’t gambling on the public’s health.

Last month, Gov. Kim Reynolds lifted statewide restrictions on public gatherings and mask-wearing, but most of the 19 state-licensed casinos and four Native American-owned casinos have kept pandemic protocols in place, said Brian Ohorilko, administrator for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, based in Des Moines.

So patrons still need to cover their nose and mouth when playing the slots and gaming tables, dining in the restaurants, staying in the hotels, and at Riverside Casino, attending Rodney Carrington’s back-to-back sold-out comedy shows Thursday night.

“I have not heard of anyone that has talked about reducing or changing their protocols from a sanitation and cleaning standpoint,” Ohorilko said. As for face coverings, he said he doesn’t have data in hand but has heard anecdotally that a few facilities are starting to relax some mask requirements.

“Most are still requiring masks in the facilities. We’re still seeing that requirement at the majority of the locations at table games areas where customers are sitting fairly close, and may not be able to social distance like you can at a slot machine,” he said.

“A lot of our casinos have invested in different types of barriers,” he added. “We saw everything from homemade barriers to barriers that are very specific to table games and made for this particular purpose. A number of the places still have those installed.”

Eastern Iowa casinos all say on their websites they have mask mandates and social distancing in place.

Entertainment still is shut down at the Meskwaki Casino near Tama, which is not under the state commission’s regulations, and the Diamond Jo in Dubuque. But the Q Casino, also in Dubuque, has slated three summer concerts on its outdoor Back Waters stage.

“We’re starting to see people come back to the facilities,” Ohorilko said. “It really is a sign or signal that the casinos are doing a good job of keeping people safe. I think customers are seeing that and are starting to attend. But at the end of the day, it’s important for everyone to make their own decisions with respect to the policies at each of the individual facilities — and the policies are different at the different locations.”

Riverside’s rules

Riverside Casino reopened June 1 after voluntarily closing March 16 near the start of the pandemic in Iowa, Marketing Director Damon John said. Entertainment returned July 10 with a socially distanced Dueling Pianos concert in the Event Center, followed by several indoor and outdoor events.

Local and area bands are performing socially distanced shows Friday and Saturday nights in the casino’s Show Lounge, with dancing allowed by patrons’ tables.

A recent Valentine’s Dinner sold out 100 seats in the Event Center, and a 180-seat Mother’s Day dinner event will be announced next week, but Thursday’s Carrington doubleheader is the highest-profile entertainment booked so far in the Event Center. And even then, just 308 seats are being sold in pods of two or four, spaced 6 feet apart, said John, noting those numbers are about 1,000 under the usual concert capacity.

Carrington also is doing two shows Friday at Rhythm City Casino in Davenport and two shows Saturday at Dubuque’s Five Flags Center. With the pandemic, reduced seating capacities mean reduced revenues, but also lower booking fees.

“That (Carrington) is willing to go out there is kind of cool to see,” John said.

Pandemic protocols will be strictly enforced at the Riverside shows.

“The safeguards in place currently are the ones that were up before the governor lifted restrictions, so we’ve had no change there,” John said. Casino complex officials are following guidelines from the Iowa Department of Public Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the local chief medical officer, Dr. David Nacos from the Washington County Hospital.

Pipes and drapes will be set up in the lobby outside the Event Center, to control a socially distanced crowd flow in and out of the facility, and masks will be required during the shows, except when patrons are actually drinking beverages.

In between shows, John said, environmental service professionals and other staff members will wipe down the chairs, and do the same after the late show, before the chairs are stacked and stored for the next event.

Patrons who haven’t been to the Riverside complex since the pandemic set in will see signage about mandatory face coverings and physical distancing; face shields on gaming table dealers; plexiglass barriers between some slot machines, and other machines either moved out of the way or cordoned off to allow for physical distancing; hand sanitizer stations; as well as safety precautions at the facility’s restaurants, hotels, spa, indoor pool and other amenities. Those are outlined on the COVID-19 visitors link on the Riverside website.

John said patrons have willingly complied with the protocols during the pandemic.

“We’ve seen people excited to get out and enjoy the casino and all of our amenities,” he said. “It’s refreshing to see people embrace the policy. A lot of businesses in the area have kept their policies intact. We don’t see any issues where people are not wanting to follow the policy. I think everyone is used to it at this point.”

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Safety protocols

See the latest on Eastern Iowa casino COVID-19 safety protocols:

• Riverside Casino: 3184 Highway 22, Riverside; riversidecasinoandresort.com/covid19-policies.html

• Meskwaki Casino: 1504 305th St., Tama; meskwaki.com/reopening-update/

• Diamond Jo Casino: 301 Bell St., Dubuque; diamondjodubuque.com/boyd-clean

• Q Casino: 1855 Greyhound Park Rd., Dubuque; qcasinoandhotel.com/

• Catfish Bend Casino: 3001 Winegard Dr., Burlington; thepzazz.com/covid19

• Casino Queen: 100 Anti Monopoly, Marquette; casinoqueenmarquette.com/queen-clean/

• Isle Casino: 777 Isle of Capri Blvd., Waterloo; islewaterloo.com/health-and-safety

• Rhythm City Casino: 7077 Elmore Ave., Davenport; rhythmcitycasino.com/covid19-policies.html

• Isle Casino: 1777 Isle Pkwy., Bettendorf; islebettendorf.com/health-and-safety