In South Korea and the operator behind Kangwon Land Casino has reportedly announced that the facility has again postponed its planned full re-opening by a further two weeks following a recent spike in local coronavirus infections.
According to a report from GGRAsia, the revelation from Kangwon Land Incorporated comes after the nation of 51.7 million inhabitants yesterday recorded 198 new cases of coronavirus to take the national tally since the start of the year to 20,842 for 331 deaths. This recent resurgence also purportedly prompted local officials in Seoul to extend a range of enhanced anti-pandemic measures for at least another week that are to prevent businesses such as restaurants, coffee shops and bakeries from opening.
Considerable closure:
GGRAsia reported that that Kangwon Land Casino is the only casino in South Korea that allows locals to gamble alongside foreign tourists but it was temporarily shuttered on February 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The source moreover explained that the 674-room development located in rural Gangwon Province approximately 93 miles from Seoul was allowed to partially re-open its VIP gaming floor in early-May and had been hoping to begin welcoming less flush patrons from Monday.
Latest delay:
However, GGRAsia reported that this latter re-opening date has now been pushed back to the morning of September 21 as the nation’s largest city, Seoul, is continuing to maintain a range of social distancing protocols that are prohibiting any more than 50 people from simultaneously gathering indoors.
Pricey postponement:
Seoul-listed Kangwon Land Incorporated is majority owned by various government authorities and reportedly used an official filing to detail that it now expects to chalk up approximately $30.6 million in lost casino sales for the four weeks from August 23 using its first-half daily average rates as a guide.