"Even One Confirmed Case Leads to Complete Shutdown" ... Distribution Industry's All-Out Fight Against COVID-19

Lotte Department Store Yeongdeungpo Branch Basement Food Hall Closed Again Today
Shinsegae Gyeonggi Branch Also Suspends Operations on One Men's Fashion Floor

Lotte Department Store will close the food hall on the B1 floor of its Yeongdeungpo branch in Seoul until the 13th. After an employee working there tested positive for COVID-19 on the 11th, the food hall was immediately closed. Following the regular holiday on the 12th, it was decided to suspend the food hall operations on the 13th as well. Other floors of the department store will operate as usual. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As confirmed COVID-19 cases continue to emerge in department stores and large supermarkets, the retail industry has taken preemptive measures by closing entire stores or parts of them. E-commerce companies are focusing all their efforts on disinfecting logistics centers.

Operations Suspended Even with Just One Confirmed Case

On the 13th, Lotte Department Store decided to extend the suspension of operations at the food hall on the basement first floor of its Yeongdeungpo branch in Seoul by one more day. After an employee working there tested positive for COVID-19 on the 11th, COVID-19 testing is being conducted for about 250 employees on the entire floor. Shinsegae Department Store’s Gyeonggi branch temporarily closed the entire 5th-floor men’s clothing and golf stores on the 12th and 13th after an employee at a clothing store tested positive. Emart Gayang branch, where some employees in the frozen and refrigerated food section tested positive on the 10th, was closed for three days including its regular closing day on the 11th and the 12th.

Hyundai Department Store’s Trade Center branch, which reported its first confirmed case on the 4th, reopened on the same day after an eight-day closure. The number of staff was minimized to one-third of the usual. In the food hall, all employees are undergoing a two-week self-quarantine regardless of their COVID-19 status. A Hyundai Department Store official said, "We deployed replacement staff for all food hall employees and installed a ‘disinfection gate’ that disinfects the entire body," adding, "QR check-in has also been introduced at 13 customer entrances."

Full-Scale Disinfection Efforts at Logistics Centers

E-commerce companies are concentrating more on disinfection management within logistics centers and monitoring the health status of delivery drivers. If a confirmed case occurs and the logistics center is shut down, product shipments and deliveries would come to a complete halt immediately.

An SSG.com official explained, "In our online-only logistics centers, 80% of the entire process is automated, maintaining a distance of more than 2 meters between workers. The P.P. center responsible for packaging products also minimizes contact between workers by subdividing work zones according to job characteristics," adding, "Since the end of January last year, immediately after the COVID-19 outbreak, we have elevated and maintained our internal disinfection management guidelines to the highest level."

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