MISSION — The Wildhorse Resort and Casino is back in business.

Following a two-month closure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation announced it reopened Wildhorse facilities on Thursday, May 28.

Jiselle Halfmoon, a spokesperson for the CTUIR Incident Command Team, said among the Wildhorse features that are returning are the casino floor, the cineplex and several restaurants.

But Wildhorse isn’t completely returning to the status quo, and Halfmoon listed some of the casino’s mitigation efforts.

In addition to increased cleaning and sanitation of the facility, all customers and employees will be required to wear masks while in Wildhorse unless eating or drinking, and will be asked to leave if they don’t comply.

Both groups must also pass through a thermal checkpoint before entering the facility that will gauge their body temperature, and Wildhorse is also shutting off some of the gambling machines to allow for social distancing.

Wildhorse also won’t be returning its entire workforce in the initial days of reopening.

As a part of a five-tiered reopening plan for the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the tribes are in the midst of Tier 3, which allows non-senior and non-immunocompromised employees to return to work for Wildhorse. Tier 4 would allow those two groups of employees to start working again while Tier 5 is a full reopening.

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Umatilla County was a Wildhorse employee, who was not a tribal member. The tribes moved quickly to shut down Wildhorse, reopening it again briefly before starting a longer shutdown as the virus began to spread in other parts of the county and state.

The CTUIR has moved cautiously to reopen Wildhorse and the rest of the reservation, an approach tribal officials say is one of the reasons there are no reported cases of COVID-19 among tribal members.

Wildhorse’s closure has a wider economic effect on the rest of Eastern Oregon and Washington. Wildhorse’s success and scale has helped the tribes become the largest employer in the Pendleton area and one of the largest in the region.