Mashantucket Pequot tribal offices were closed for "deep cleaning" and will reopen Monday after a tribal government employee who reported feeling sick Tuesday was deemed ineligible for COVID-19 testing, according to a tribal spokeswoman.

Lori Potter, the tribe’s director of public affairs, confirmed Wednesday that the employee, who does not work at the tribe's Foxwoods Resort Casino, “remains safe at home at this time.”

“A tribal government employee reported feeling sick, and out of abundance of caution stayed home and informed the supervisors,” Potter said in a statement. “The employee did not meet the criteria to be considered a ‘patient under investigation,’” and was “deemed low risk using the CDC guidelines.”

Currently, COVID-19 testing is only available to high-risk individuals in Connecticut, Potter said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises clinicians to use their judgment in determining whether a patient has signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19 — the disease caused by the new coronavirus — and should be tested.

“Decisions on which patients receive testing should be based on the local epidemiology of COVID-19, as well as the clinical course of illness,” the CDC says on its website, cdc.gov. “Most patients with confirmed COVID-19 have developed fever and/or symptoms of acute respiratory illness (cough, difficulty breathing).”

The Mashantucket employee’s symptoms are mild, Potter said.

The tribe “values the safety and health of its community,” and is “deep cleaning and disinfecting the government offices while we temporarily use online and work-from-home protocols as feasible,” she added.

In the face of the coronavirus threat, it appeared to be business as usual Wednesday at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, southeastern Connecticut’s tribally owned casinos. Officials at both properties said they’re closely monitoring state and national coronavirus guidelines and are striving to keep their facilities extra clean.

“Foxwoods Resort Casino remains open for business with no current cancellations of player events or entertainment and will continue to respond with safety as our top priority,” Foxwoods said in a statement.

Dr. Setu Vora, the Mashantuckets’ chief medical officer, said the tribe has taken “proactive prevention steps” to counter the COVID-19 threat.

“In partnership with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation’s health teams and governmental partners, we are closely monitoring the latest updates and following guidance from the CDC, state officials and national experts,” he said. “We are in communication with our teams on everyday preventative actions they can take. We also provide free, on-site flu shots for all of our team members and dependents every year. We’ve invested in additional resources to expand our cleaning efforts across the property and also offer sanitizer stations throughout the resort to promote hand cleansing for our guests and team members.”

Foxwoods said it has taken such measures as adding more than 330 hand-sanitizing stations and sanitizing wipes throughout the casino and forming a “core cleaning team” to increase the frequency of disinfecting slot machines, door handles, table games, escalator rails, table tops, chairs and other “high-volume touch points.”

The casino said it daily reminds employees to frequently wash their hands and encourages employees who don’t feel well to stay home. It said it's encouraging guests who feel ill to seek medical attention and avoid public exposure as much as possible.

A Foxwoods patron who declined to give his name as he was entering the casino from a parking garage Wednesday said he wasn’t concerned about the coronavirus. “Not until I see people coughing and wearing masks,” he said.

Jeff Hamilton, Mohegan Sun’s president and general manager, said his casino’s primary focus is the safety of guests and employees.

“The Mohegan Tribal Health Department, alongside our executive team and departmental leadership across Mohegan Sun, are ensuring that important updates on this health matter are communicated regularly and that preventative actions continue, which include deep cleaning, easy access to wash and sanitize hands properly and providing direction on additional health-care measures and awareness,” he said.

So far, two events scheduled for Mohegan Sun have been affected by the threat of disease. The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference has canceled state championship basketball games scheduled March 21-22 at Mohegan Sun Arena, and an Adam Sandler concert scheduled for March 20 has been postponed.

Casinos in other parts of the country also are feeling the impact of the coronavirus.

MGM Resorts International announced Wednesday that local health officials in Nevada had confirmed a case of COVID-19 involving a guest at The Mirage, an MGM casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

“We were informed that an individual from New York who was a guest at The Mirage and an attendee of the Women of Power Summit from March 5-8 has tested positive for coronavirus,” the company said in a news release, adding that professional cleaners were “deep cleaning and sanitizing the individual's room.”

In the first coronavirus case involving a tribal casino, a worker at the Wildhorse Resort and Casino on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in eastern Oregon was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 2. The tribe closed the casino, had it cleaned and reopened it two days later.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com