GKL Gangnam casino shut until Fri after staff Covid cases

Jan 06, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), a South Korean operator of foreigner-only casinos under the Seven Luck brand, paused gaming at its Gangnam COEX venue (pictured) in Seoul from 10am on Wednesday, and has extended the shutdown until the afternoon of Friday (January 7), after eight employees were confirmed with Covid-19 infection, said a representative of the company in response to GGRAsia’s Thursday telephone enquiry.

An online corporate announcement had earlier explained it was a “pre-emptive measure” to prevent the “spread of infection” relating to Covid-19, and for the “safety of customers and employees”. No such infection had been detected among the venue’s customers, said GKL.

Closure of the venue was for cleaning and to test the rest of the casino’s employees for Covid-19.

Two other casinos run by GKL – namely Seven Luck at the Gangbuk Millennium Hilton in Seoul, and its gaming operation at Busan Lotte in South Korea’s port city of Busan – were unaffected and remained open to the public.

Authorities in South Korea have reinstated social distancing rules across the country, in an effort to stem a resurgence of Covid-19. The measures will be in effect until at least January 16.

As of 12am on Thursday, South Korea had recorded 4,126 new Covid-19 cases in the previous 24 hours, taking the country’s tally of confirmed cases to 653,792, including 5,887 fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

(Updated 4.50pm, Jan 6)

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