South Korean casino operator Grand Korea Leisure Company Limited has reportedly extended the temporary coronavirus-related closure of its three Seven Luck Casino-branded venues for another six days until at least January 4.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the Seoul-headquartered firm’s foreigner-only casinos inside the Millennium Hilton Seoul, Intercontinental Seoul Coex and Lotte Hotel Busan were due to re-open from later today following a five-week shuttering instituted after the nation of over 51 million people was placed under a more stringent set of social distancing and public safety protocols. The source detailed that these revised rules were initially implemented from November 24 to further curb the opening hours of restaurants and limit all public gatherings to less than 100 people.

Pricey pronouncement:

Grand Korea Leisure Company Limited reportedly used an official Monday filing to declare that it decided to extend the shutdowns due to ‘the upgrade to Level 2.5 in the metropolitan area’ of Seoul as well as ‘the maintenance of Level 2’ protocols in Busan. The firm, which is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, moreover purportedly explained that the move is expected to cost it approximately $2.19 million in lost sales and bring its estimated shortfall for the coronavirus-impacted period up to about $14.62 million.

Compatriot concern:

In related news and fellow South Korean casino heavyweight Paradise Company Limited reportedly announced that it has similarly decided to delay the re-opening of its equally modest casino within the five-star Grand Walkerhill Seoul hotel by a further six days owing to the same government-mandated anti-coronavirus protocols. This facility was purportedly temporarily shuttered from December 15 after the region around Seoul began recording average daily infections rates of beyond 175 and subsequently banned public gatherings of more than four people over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Serious surge:

South Korea was one of the first nations to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic and has so far recorded 859 deaths directly linked to the highly-contagious ailment including 40 only yesterday. The nation currently has 17,593 active cases of the potentially-lethal contagion, which is considerably higher than the 623 it was handling in mid-August before the appearance of a second wave of infections.