Several S. Korea casinos paused due to Covid-19 cases

Aug 16, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Kangwon Land, the only casino resort in South Korea permitted to offer gaming to locals; and Paradise Casino Walkerhill, a foreigner-only venue in South Korea’s capital Seoul, have had their operations paused temporarily, due to confirmed Covid-19 cases associated with those properties.

Kangwon Land casino’s operator, Kangwon Land Inc, is pausing gaming from 10am today (Monday, August 16), until 6am on Wednesday (August 18), according to a Sunday announcement on its website.

Paradise Co Ltd decided to shut its Paradise Casino Walkerhill venue on Saturday (August 14), until 3pm on Tuesday (August 17) due to confirmed Covid-19 cases on the premises, according to a telephone representative at the venue, spoken to by GGRAsia.

A representative at the public health centre in Gwangjin district, Seoul, the local-government area where Paradise Casino Walkerhill is located, told GGRAsia by telephone on Sunday, that people now confirmed with Covid-19 infection – all customers – had visited the casino on occasions between the dates of either July 27 and July 29, or on August 8. The representative did not disclose the number of cases that had been confirmed.

At the Kangwon Land complex, there had been 20 confirmed Covid-19 cases between August 12 and Monday (August 16). Seven involved casino staff; two involved catering employees; and 11 cases involved intern staff working at the resort’s water park. That is according respectively to a representative at the casino front desk, and an official from the public health centre of Jeongseon county, where Kangwon Land is located, spoken to on Monday by GGRAsia. Testing of other Kangwon Land employees for Covid-19 infection was still ongoing, a public health representative had earlier told GGRAsia.

Jeongseon county tightened from Saturday its social-distancing protocol to a more stringent “Level 3” from “Level 2”. The higher level will be in place until 12am on August 28, according to the website of the Jeongseon county government.

Assuming Kangwon Land’s casino reopens as planned, on Wednesday, the Level 3 distancing will mean the casino will continue to be limited to 30 percent of operational capacity: the same maximum as under the Level 2 rules.

The representative at the Kangwon Land casino front desk also stated in response to GGRAsia’s telephone enquiry that after the first two recent Covid-19 cases were identified on August 12 – both involving interns at the water park – the casino had reduced the number of operational gaming tables from 113 to 78. The management had also reduced the number of daily customer places permitted – a tally decided under a lot-drawing system – to 4,000 from 5,000. Those changes had applied from August 13 to 15 inclusive.

The operation of the water park and some dining facilities in the complex had been suspended from August 13, according to the resort’s webpage.

Kangwon Land resort is in an eastern remote upland area several hours by road from Seoul.

As of 12am on Monday, South Korea had 1,556 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, taking the country’s confirmed tally to 225,481, including 2,167 deaths. A total of 196,198 people had been released from quarantine since the start of the crisis and up to that date, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare.

(Updated Aug 16, 10.05am)

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