Corona Resort & Casino, the only casino in Vietnam in which locals are allowed to gamble, has been granted permission to reopen after authorities eased COVID-19 restrictions on Wednesday.
With Kien Giang Province now classified as a “green zone” under Vietnam’s COVID-19 classification system, Chairman of the People’s Committee in Kien Giang Province, Lam Minh Thanh, has granted permission for a range of services to resume operations. They include casinos, amusement parks, hotels, restaurants, safaris and cable cars among others.
Non-essential services such as beauty salons, theaters, massage parlors, spas, indoor sports facilities and gyms will remain closed, however.
Despite the new measures, Corona Resort & Casino had given no indication of when it would reopen as of Thursday, having suspended all operations from 19 July due to Vietnam’s worsening pandemic situation.
Phu Quoc is currently preparing to launch a pilot scheme, originally planned for September but since postponed until October, under which it will welcome back fully-vaccinated foreign visitors.
Corona Resort & Casino is one of two casinos chosen by the Vietnamese government – although the only yet to open – under its three-year pilot program allowing locals to gamble.
The program requires Vietnamese citizens to show monthly income of VND10 million (US$431) for the past three months, to be over the age of 21 and to pay an entry tax of VND1 million per 24 hours.