South Korea’s Paradise Co says it will close its Seoul casino, Paradise Walkerhill, for seven days as the nation continues to battle its latest wave of COVID-19.
The company announced via a Korea Stock Exchange announcement that Paradise Walkerhill would suspend operations from 3pm on Tuesday 15 December until 6am on Tuesday 22 December, with a decision on any possible extension due early next week.
The closure sees Paradise follow the lead of fellow foreigner-only casino operator Grand Korea Leisure, which has shut down its casinos at Gangnam COEX, Gangbuk Millenium Seoul Hilton and Busan Lotte Hotel, and locals casino Kangwon Land.
Both companies suspended gaming operations earlier this month, however Paradise had until this week opted against similar measures. The company’s Paradise City integrated resort in Incheon, Paradise Casino Busan and Paradise Casino Jeju Grand remain open.
South Korean authorities last week lifted COVID-19 alert levels for the capital city of Seoul, the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and Incheon from 2 to 2.5 amid rapidly rising COVID-19 cases.
New case numbers hit a record high of 1,030 on Monday but fell to 718 on Tuesday.