The Navajo Nation Council November 2 approved of the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise’s proposal to reopen the nation’s four casinos in New Mexico and Arizona that closed in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The vote was 15 in favor and eight opposed. To take effect, the bill must be signed by President Jonathan Nez, who also has the option to veto it. He must act within 10 days of the legislation’s passage.
One of the no votes was Delegate Carl Slater, who said, “Particularly, what’s concerning for me is reading reports that emphasize that we’re starting to see our ICU bed availability go dramatically down due to these rising cases. To me, my fear is that we will overwhelm our health care system.”
The casinos affected include the Northern Edge Casino, Flowing Water Casino, Fire Rock Casino and Twin Arrows Casino Resort.
Under the plan, the casinos would operate at 50 percent capacity. It requires the approval of the Navajo Nation Council. Without the action, the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise says it will be forced to permanently close the casinos and lay off their 1,280 employees by the end of November.
The nation suffered a much larger percentage of Covid-19 cases and deaths than many areas of the region. Currently there have been 11,753 cases on the reservation, with 581 deaths.
According to Jill Jim, director of the Navajo Department of Health, the nation is in a second Covid surge. “We’re all at uncontrolled spread, she said.
For the casinos to reopen, there would need to be less than one new case per 100,000, said Jim.
Parrish, commented, “This plan is extremely comprehensive, and it covers testing, reporting, contract tracing, protocols in every single area of the operation.”
