LINCOLN CITY, Ore. — Chinook Winds Casino Resort is closing its doors through August 25, 2021, out of an abundance of caution as the delta variant causes case numbers in Oregon to surge and records for hospitalizations and ICU COVID patients continue to be broken.
In a press release, the Siletz Tribal Council and the Chinook Winds Senior Executive team announced that the Chinook Winds Casino, hotel and golf course will all be closed beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, August 12 through August 26, 2021.
“Despite the progress we have made to vaccinate our team, their families, and the community, increases in cases in the county and state have led us to make the difficult decision to close our operations until August 26, 2021,” said Michael Fisher.
While just under half of the Indigenous population in Oregon has received at least one dose, 45.9%, there are still more than 35,000 Indigenous people who need to receive their vaccine to reach the 80% benchmark the state has set. BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Many minority communities have seen higher COVID infection rates per capita, making the issue of vaccine equity a hot topic since the vaccine rollout.
“We will pay our team members through this two-week closure. We look forward to welcoming our guests and team members back as soon as it’s safe to do so,” Fisher said in a press release.
If you’re looking for a place to get vaccinated, you can use the Oregon vaccine locator tool here.
