Distribution Industry on High Alert Due to 23rd Confirmed Case... Lotte Department Store Main Branch and E-Mart Mapo Gongdeok Branch Closed

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The 23rd confirmed case of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) has been disclosed, putting the distribution industry on high alert. Lotte Department Store Main Branch and E-Mart Mapo Gongdeok Branch confirmed visits by the 23rd confirmed case and temporarily closed on the 7th.

Lotte Department Store announced that it received an official notification from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the 23rd confirmed case visited the main branch on the 2nd, and that it would temporarily close from 2 p.m. that day.

From 2 p.m., Lotte Department Store broadcast announcements informing customers of the temporary closure, and after all customers left, it immediately entered temporary closure. Following this, the entire store underwent disinfection procedures.

Lotte Department Store Main Branch plans to resume operations on the 10th.

E-Mart Mapo Gongdeok Branch also temporarily closed on the same day due to the visit of the 23rd confirmed case. From 2 p.m., announcements were made informing customers of the temporary closure, and after all customers left, the store immediately closed temporarily. Subsequently, the entire store underwent disinfection procedures.

After completing disinfection work by the 9th, the decision to resume operations will be made in consultation with health authorities.

This is the third time E-Mart has temporarily closed a store due to visits by confirmed novel coronavirus cases, following the Gunsan Branch and Bucheon Branch.

The Bucheon Branch was confirmed to have been visited by the 12th and 14th confirmed cases, a married couple, on the 30th of last month, and it suspended operations on the 2nd before reopening on the 4th. The Gunsan Branch temporarily closed for three days from the 31st of last month to the 2nd of this month and reopened on the 3rd.

The 23rd confirmed case is a Chinese woman who entered Korea on the 23rd of last month for tourism purposes. According to epidemiological investigation results from health authorities, the 23rd confirmed case stayed at Lotte Department Store Main Branch from 12:15 p.m. to 1:19 p.m. on the 2nd, one day before symptom onset. Afterwards, she visited E-Mart Mapo Gongdeok Branch in Mapo-gu, Seoul, by a friend’s vehicle around 2:20 p.m. and stayed until 4:09 p.m.

She showed symptoms such as fever on the 3rd of this month and was confirmed positive on the 6th, currently under isolation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.