Paradise City casino reopened Weds, after staff testing

Sep 10, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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The foreigner-only casino in Paradise City at Incheon, near South Korea’s main airport, has reopened with effect from 2pm on Wednesday (September 9). That was only days after management said that the gaming venue was closing “indefinitely” due to what local media reported was an outbreak of Covid-19 among six resort staff, including two casino workers.

The new notice on the website of the resort followed Friday’s announcement of indefinite closure of the casino. The latest bulletin only mentioned “the employee”, in relation to a confirmed positive case of Covid-19.

The notice added that the resort (pictured) had “carried out high-intensity, precision quarantine, in close consultation” with the local authorities.

“In addition, in order to prevent the spread of additional infections, all employees including outsourcing employees, took a Covid-19 test, and only employees who received negative results were allowed to return to work,” it stated.

The notice did not mention how many resort workers – if any – had tested positive for the illness.

The announcement added that some non-gaming facilities –  the Hotel Paradise, the outdoor swimming pool, a safari park, the Kids Zone, the Art Space; and food and drink outlets at La Scala, Garden Café, Lounge Paradise, and Plaza – had reopened as of 1pm on Wednesday.

It further stated that other non-gaming facilities: the Art Paradiso hotel, indoor swimming pool, sauna, fitness centre, and PlayStation Zone; plus some food and drink outlets including Imperial Treasure – a restaurant where at least one staff member had fallen sick – would remain shut.

The non-gaming entertainment facilities Cimer, Wonderbox and Chroma are also to remain shut.

The notice described the latter continued closures as “a pre-emptive measure to prevent the spread of infection,” and for the “safety of guests and employees”.

As of 12am on Thursday, South Korea had recorded 156 new cases of Covid-19 within the preceding 24 hours, taking the national tally of confirmed infections to 21,588, according to a dedicated website of the country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare. South Korea has recorded a total of 344 deaths from Covid-19, since the start of the pandemic.

Paradise City launched in 2017 with a hotel as well as a foreigner-only casino. The complex has gradually been adding non-gaming facilities since then.

It is a venture between Paradise Co, a South Korean operator of foreigner-only casinos, and Japanese entertainment conglomerate Sega Sammy Holdings Inc.

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