Paradise Co halts Walkerhill ops amid Seoul virus alert

Dec 15, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Paradise Co Ltd, an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, announced on Tuesday (December 15) temporary closure of its Paradise Casino Walkerhill venue (pictured) in the country’s capital Seoul, starting from 3pm, until 6am on December 22.

According to a Tuesday filing to the Korea Exchange, the move is to “prevent the spread of Covid-19 in Seoul”.

Paradise Co confirmed to GGRAsia that its three other foreigner-only gaming venues – located respectively at Incheon near the capital; the southern port city of Busan; and on the semi-autonomous island of Jeju – continued to operate without any changes to their present arrangements.

As of Tuesday, South Korea had reported 880 new cases in 24 hours, taking the national tally since the start of the crisis, to 44,364.

Of the new cases, 848 were classified as “local” according to South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare. Seoul has one of the highest rates of Covid-19 infection within the country, the official data indicates.

Currently, South Korea is operating so-called “Level 2.5” social-distancing measures in the greater Seoul area. Under that protocol, gatherings of fewer than 50 people are still allowed, local news agency Yonhap reported.

“Level 3” would apply in a South Korean community where the daily tally of infection cases doubled from the previous day, according to Yonhap. Under Level 3 social distancing measures, any gatherings of 10 or more people would be banned: companies would also be asked to ensure non-essential employees worked from home.

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