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UPDATE: Wind Creek Hospitality announced this afternoon that all of its properties in Alabama will be closed until March 30.

On Saturday, WCH announced that it would voluntarily close its Alabama-based properties for one day in order to pursue an intensive deep cleaning in anticipation of reopening tomorrow. Upon further consideration of the events occurring during these unprecedented times facing our communities and country, Wind Creek will voluntarily extend the closure of its Alabama properties until March 30, 2020, according to a release.

“While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at Wind Creek Atmore or Wind Creek Montgomery, we believe that it is a matter of time until cases are identified,” the release said. “While business is important, the health of our employees, guests, and communities is most important. To the extent we can help improve the situation that our health care providers are facing, we believe that this action today will play a role to help slow the spread of COVID-19. And as always, we make this decision with the focus on the wellbeing of our employees and guests in mind.”

During this temporary closure, Wind Creek has committed to paying its employees.

 

Closure due to patron that was diagnosed with COVID-19 after visiting Wetumpka property

Wind Creek Hospitality announced Saturday that all of its properties in Alabama will close effective at 6 a.m. on Sunday, March 15, for 24 hours for an intensive deep cleaning.

Coronavirus disease is a respiratory illness that can spread from person to person. The virus that cause COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that was first identified during an investigation into an outbreak in Wuhan, China, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s website.

The properties will reopen at 6 a.m. on March 16 with a social distancing practice in place.

“These actions follow our learning that a patron who visited the Wind Creek Resort in Wetumpka during the third week of February has subsequently been diagnosed with COVID-19 (coronavirus),” WCH officials said in a release. “The safety and wellbeing of our guests and team members is paramount to Wind Creek. During this closure, all of our Alabama properties will undergo an intensive deep cleaning and sanitizing process.”
Upon reopening, in addition to the steps we implemented last week, the following social distancing protocols will be in place, according to a release:

• Limiting active machines on casino floor, high limit areas and non-smoking areas so that spacing between active games meets social distancing guidelines
• Limiting and spacing seating at all restaurants and bars
• Limiting and spacing seating at other public outlets to be consistent with social spacing protocols
• Configuring queue lines to support social spacing of patrons

“While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at our other properties, and it has been three weeks since the visit in Wetumpka, Wind Creek has decided to take these steps as responsible business leaders within our communities and in the best interests of our guests and team members,” officials said.

During this temporary closure, Wind Creek has committed to paying both salaried and tipped employees, the release said.

Wind Creek will continue to work with the appropriate officials on the evolving situation.