GKL halts ops at Seoul casino until Thurs due to Covid case

Jul 20, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, suspended on Tuesday operations at its Seven Luck-branded Gangnam COEX casino in Seoul. The temporary suspension followed confirmation that a worker at the complex had tested positive for Covid-19 infection, according to a representative of the company in response to GGRAsia’s telephone enquiry.

Operations at the venue will remain suspended until 11am on Thursday (local time), according to an online corporate announcement by GKL.

The announcement explained the temporary closure was “a pre-emptive measure to prevent the spread of infection” and to ensure the “safety of customers and employees”. GKL added it would carry out a “strict disinfection” of Gangnam COEX before reopening the venue to the public.

All other casinos run by Grand Korea Leisure – namely Gangbuk Millennium Hilton in Seoul and Busan Lotte in South Korea’s port city of Busan – were unaffected by the measure and remained open to public as of Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Gangnam COEX had already been temporarily closed from July 10 to July 12 following a decision made by head office, as a Covid-19 countermeasure. Sister property Gangbuk Millennium Hilton was closed from July 12 to 14 as a “pre-emptive measure” to prevent the “spread of infection” from Covid-19.

Authorities in South Korea have raised social distancing rules in Greater Seoul to Level 4, in an effort to stem the spread of Covid-19 in the region. Such measure is to be in place at least until July 26.

As of 12am on Tuesday, South Korea had recorded 1,278 new Covid-19 cases in the previous 24 hours, taking the country’s tally of confirmed cases to 180,481, including 2,059 deaths and 160,347 people released from quarantine, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

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