South Korea orders Seoul casinos to halt operations amid increase in COVID-19 cases

The closure of casinos will commence from midnight tonight as the region combats COVID-19 infections?

South Korea has ordered Seoul?metropolitan area casinos to close,?taking effect from midnight?as the region?combats a surge in COVID-19 infections,?according to the local media outlets.?

All?the?four foreigner-only casino venues in greater Seoul, namely,?Gangnam?Coex?Seoul,?Gangbuk?Millenium?Seoul Hilton,?Paradise Casino?Walkerhill?Seoul?and?Paradise City Casino Incheon?will have to suspend operations temporarily. This is due to the sudden rise in COVID-19 cases in Greater Seoul between?November 15?and?November 21, which amounted to 300 cases daily during that period.?

“Level 1.5 social distancing applies if the weekly average is over 100 cases in the metropolitan?area, and Level 2, if over 200.”?

The regions of Seoul,?Gyeonggi?and Incheon have been ordered to?go into?‘Level 2’ of the country’s COVID-19 mitigation strategy, which prohibits all events, including bars, nightclubs, casinos, etc.?

The Level 2 designation will also call a halt to local racing operations?such as horseracing and boat?racing?that are among the few legal avenues of gambling that local residents can participate.?

A Paradise City representative confirmed to?GGRAsia?that the complex was to observe “Level 2” and declared?that the resort had suspended gaming operations from 10am to 6pm on?Monday..??

“Paradise Casino?Walkerhill?Seoul, Gangnam?Coex?Seoul, and?Gangbuk?Millennium Seoul Hilton told?GGRAsia?no specific instructions had been provided by their respective corporate managements as of Monday morning.”?

The?Walkerhill?venue stated?that it would?only?stop serving food and drink from 9pm Monday, and?Grand Korea Leisure (GKL)?said its casinos would remain shut until December 8, with an expected cost to the company of KRW5.1b (US$4.6m).??

Kangwon?Land, located in a mountainous region some 200km north of Seoul, remains the only casino at which locals can gamble.?

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