Chances Squamish has not had a COVID-19 case on its property, contrary to rumours floating around Squamish on Thursday.
The Chief received multiple inquiries about this on March 12.
Tanya Gabara, public relations official with Gateway Casinos and Entertainment, the parent company of the Squamish casino, said while the company has heard there are rumours, it is not true and the location has not been contacted by public health officials.
It is open for business as usual.
"We will continue to work with employees and customers who may be displaying symptoms to ensure they follow public health protocols," she said in an email to The Chief, adding the staff is being "hyper-vigilant" about cleaning protocols.
"We have increased our cleaning practices to clean and disinfect all hard surfaces and frequently touched surfaces, such as doors, handles and slot machines and other public areas. We have also installed and increased the number of sanitization stations across our properties to make it even more accessible to customers and employees," she said.
More training has also been provided to staff about the importance of staying home if sick, hand washing and the like.
The company will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation, "so that we can proactively safeguard our customers, employees and business interests against the spread of germs."
The Chief contacted the Vancouver Health Authority to see if there were any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Squamish, but tthe health authority only releases numbers for the entire authority, not each community.
In her daily virus-update call with the media, including The Chief, on Thursday, provincial health officer Bonnie Henry asked those who travel outside Canada to self-quarantine for 14 days upon return.
It is also suggested all gatherings of more than 250 people be cancelled. Public schools in B.C. are not being closed at this time.
~With files from Steven Chua/The Chief
*Please note, this story has been updated since it was first posted to add that The Chief contacted VCH.
