Since the beginning of the year, the coronavirus epidemic has continued to wreak havoc not only in its country of origin China but also globally. Thousands have been infected while hundreds have succumbed to the deadly virus.
Countries around the world have imposed travel bans restricting the entry of Chinese Nationals into their territory in fear of the virus gaining access into their boundaries. China’s neighbors have not been spared either. Only last week, South Korea labeled itself as a high risk country after reporting 600 new infections.
The red alert caused South Korea’s only gaming venue to announce that it would be closing its doors from noon of 23rd February to 6am of 26th February. However, according to one recent news article published a few hours ago in the CalvinAyre.com, Kangwon Land has extended its shutdown.
This came after authorities in South Korea announced that the number of new exposures had risen to 1,300 while the number of deaths had reached 11. South Korea has recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections outside China.
Kangwon Land announced on Tuesday that it will be extending its closure due to concerns about the rising number of infections. Though none of its staff or guests had tested positive for the virus, the gaming venue found it wise to keep its doors closed so as to keep its staff and guests safe. It hopes that it will resume business on Saturday 29 February. In the meantime, Kangwon continues to disinfect its gambling area as well as take other precautionary measures in preparation for its reopening.
In 2019 Kangwon’s revenue rose by 5.7% to $1.25 billion. Operating profit increased by 16.6% to KRW522b while the net profit went up by 12.7% to KRW353.5b. The gaming company attributed the strong performance to the strict cost cutting measures it had put in place at the beginning of the year as well as introduction of a new concept to its electronic games. Analysts had predicted that the year 2020 and 2021 will even be better for the gaming venue.
However, the gaming venue might experience huge losses this year due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Based on 2019 daily revenue, the company estimates that it will experience a cumulative loss of not less than $18.1 million during the period it will be closed, twice the amount it had predicted during its initial shutdown.
Things may get worse given the rapid rate with which the virus is spreading. Hinging on this concept, Japan in a statement issued to its local news outlets has ordered all the public and private schools in the country to closed immediately in a bid to avoid the spread. Likewise, the venue may have to shut down for more days than it had expected.
Given that Kangwon is the only gaming venue in South Korea, gamblers in the country have to find alternatives. However, this is proving difficult due to the travel restrictions being imposed by some Asia-Pacific countries.
