In South Korea and casino operator Grand Korea Leisure Company Limited has reportedly announced that it is to keep its three-strong chain of Seven Luck Casino-branded venues shuttered until February 1 owing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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 ordered to close from November 24 after South Korea was placed under a more stringent set of social distancing and public safety protocols. The source explained that this program had been due to end on December 29 but was later extended for a further six days before being prolonged to January 17.

Distressing increase:

South Korea began the year with almost 18,000 active coronavirus cases, which represented a rise of over 186% month-on-month, and consequently decided to extend its strict ‘Level 2.5’ lockdown restrictions for Seoul and the giant metropolis’ surrounding region until the end of January while keeping the city of Busan under more lenient ‘Level 2’ constraints. As such and private gatherings in the nation of 51.7 million inhabitants may now feature no more than five people with most businesses prohibited from remaining open after nine o’clock in the evening.

Pricey proclamation:

Grand Korea Leisure Company Limited reportedly used an official filing to detail that it now expects to lose approximately $24.47 million due to the extended closure, which is almost 14% beyond the $19.45 million it had estimated as a consequence of the earlier shutterings. However, many industry experts are now purportedly optimistic that casinos in South Korea will be allowed to at least partially re-open come the first day of February owing to the fact that the nation’s daily coronavirus infection rate has halved over the course of the last three weeks to stand at about 500.