In Australia and casino operator Crown Resorts Limited has reportedly been told that it will be forced to keep its flagship Crown Melbourne facility shuttered for at least another six weeks following a local resurgence in the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a Tuesday report from Inside Asian Gaming, the Sydney-listed firm followed a government order in temporarily closing down the giant venue from March 23 as the number of Australians infected with the potentially-lethal ailment topped 1,700. Nationwide instances subsequently dropped to as low as 380 last month and consequently led the operator to re-open its Crown Perth property and begin making plans for a similar revival in Melbourne.

Lockdown lull:

However, it was further reported that the state of Victoria has just re-entered a ‘Stage Three’ quarantine after recording 191 new cases of coronavirus since Monday, which is set to preclude the opening of leisure facilities such as the 1,604-room Crown Melbourne until at least August 19. The source detailed that this move for Australia’s second most populated state is also requiring residents to remain at home and refrain from travelling except for the purposes of education, exercise, work and obtaining food or medical care.

Damaging divergence:

In explaining the recent spike in coronavirus for the area around Melbourne and Inside Asian Gaming reported that the same 24-hour period to Tuesday morning saw the rest of Australia record just eight infections to give the country around 1,190 active cases of the highly-contagious ailment.

Considered corroboration:

In a short confirmatory statement, Crown Resorts Limited reportedly declared that its ‘first priority is the health and safety of its employees, guests and the community’ and that its Crown Melbourne property would be remaining temporarily shuttered due to the reintroduction of ‘Stage Three restrictions across metropolitan Melbourne.’

Cash consequence:

Finally, it was reported that Crown Resorts Limited began reviving post-coronavirus operations at its Crown Perth facility from June 27 and recently secured a new debt facility worth some $684 million to help it weather the ongoing impacts of the pandemic. The source furthermore pronounced that this provision had included approximately $312 million in additional finance for the operator’s coming Crown Sydney venue, which had been due to open later this year following over 50 months of construction.