Cambodia casinos can reopen, with Covid-19 measures

Jul 03, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen said on Friday that casinos across the nation would be allowed to resume operations if they met health requirements to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks at their venues. The information was disclosed by government spokesperson Phay Siphan, in his Facebook account.

According to the spokesperson, the prime minister announced the decision during a weekly Cabinet meeting. He said the decision took into consideration the fact that the Covid-19 situation in the country had stabilised.

Casino operators in Cambodia will have to obtain permission from the country’s Ministry of Health before reopening their respective venues, said Mr Siphan. The companies will have to meet certain requirements in order to counter Covid-19, he added. His post did not specify the measures that would have to be in place before a casino was allowed to reopen.

All casinos in Cambodia were ordered to shut down temporarily with effect from April 1, as part of a number of measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus responsible for the Covid-19 infection. The closure of such venues was ongoing as of Friday, according to at least one casino operator in that country.

Chinese news agency Xinhua cited Ros Phearun, an official from Cambodia’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, as saying that there was a total of 193 licensed casinos in Cambodia. Aside from the NagaWorld complex (pictured) in capital Phnom Penh – a property run by Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp Ltd – all other casinos in Cambodia were located in border areas or in Sihanoukville, according to the news agency.

“Casinos can be re-opened only if they meet requirements of preventing Covid-19,” Mr Phearun told Xinhua.

The Southeast Asian nation had recorded a total of 141 confirmed Covid-19 cases as of Friday, said the news agency citing data from the country’s Ministry of Health.

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