SOUTH KOREA RESTORES CURBS AFTER FRESH OUTBREAKS
SEOUL—SOUTH Korean officials on Thursday called on major metropolitan areas to restore public health measures, including the closure of some public places and asking companies to institute flexible working plans, after a surge in new coronavirus cases.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 79 new cases on Thursday, the most in nearly eight weeks.
82 cases at 1 site
At least 82 cases so far this week have been linked to a cluster of infections at a logistics facility operated by Coupang Corp., one of the country’s largest online shopping firms, in Bucheon, west of Seoul.
Some 4,100 workers, including 603 delivery people, at the warehouse were believed not to have followed safety measures properly, including wearing a mask, KCDC Deputy Director Kwon Jun-wook said at a briefing.
Coupang, one of a group of e-commerce firms whose plants have been scrambling to meet a surge in demand, has said the Bucheon center went through daily disinfection and all employees wore masks and gloves and had temperatures checked.
The new cases, the third straight day of rising infections, brought the country’s total as of midnight on Wednesday to 11,344 with 269 deaths.
The warehouse cluster appeared to be linked to an outbreak that emerged in several Seoul nightclubs and bars in early May, the KCDC said, and came as the country sought to ease social restrictions.
More than 2 million children returned to class on Wednesday, the latest in a phased opening of schools.
Unlike many countries, South Korea didn’t impose a strict lockdown to counter the new coronavirus but health officials said they would be conducting on-site inspections of logistics centers to develop better policies for preventing outbreaks at such facilities.
Prohibitions imposed
Bucheon City announced it would return to intensive social distancing, which means religious facilities, sports fixtures and other public facilities would be shut down.
Coupang, backed by Japanese tech conglomerate Softbank Group, said it closed the Bucheon facility on Monday as well as another facility in Goyang, in the Seoul suburbs, after an employee tested positive there.
“As soon as the employee’s diagnosis was confirmed, Coupang sent home and self-quarantined employees who had contact with the employee,” the company said in a statement.
The outbreak and warehouse closures came as South Korea’s e-commerce firms soaked up rocketing orders.