Over 100 Cases Again... 93 New COVID-19 Cases in Busan, 1 More at Shinsegae Department Store Children's Facility

12 Confirmed Cases, Luxury Store That Was Closed for Five Days Reopens on the 3rd with Replacement Staff

Shinsegae Department Store Centum City Branch in Haeundae-gu, Busan. After an employee at a luxury brand store tested positive, the store remained closed for five days and then resumed operations by deploying substitute staff for three days.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] An employee at the children's experience facility in Shinsegae Centum City Department Store in Busan, where a cluster infection occurred in a luxury store, has also tested positive for COVID-19. On the same day, 93 new cases were confirmed in Busan.

According to Busan City on the 3rd, one employee of the children's experience facility located in Centum City Mall inside Shinsegae Centum City Department Store tested positive the day before.

The employee had not gone to work for two weeks after their family was placed under self-quarantine. After receiving a negative test result recently, they returned to work on the 26th of last month but developed COVID-19 symptoms, got tested again, and were confirmed positive.

All 170 employees of the facility underwent diagnostic testing. Except for five whose results have not yet been released, all tested negative.

The infected employee worked in the sales area and was found to have had no direct contact with children visiting the experience facility.

The health authorities quarantined three of the eight employees who worked with the infected employee and sent text messages recommending diagnostic tests to 54 adults who were identified as having made card payments in the sales area.

Previously, a total of 12 people, including seven employees (one confirmed case from Gyeongnam) and five contacts, were infected in the luxury store within the same department store, but no additional infections have been reported in the past few days.

The store had 56 employees placed under self-quarantine and suspended operations for five days starting from the 29th of last month. It resumed business on the 3rd by deploying substitute staff.

In Busan, seven people were confirmed positive at a call center in Jung-gu.

Due to the high density of employees at the call center, further epidemiological investigations are underway.

At the Shinpyeong-dong branch of IBK Industrial Bank in Saha-gu, two more employees were infected. All eight confirmed cases up to the previous day were identified as counter staff.

At the Oncheon bathhouse in Dongnae-gu, one user who was quarantined as a contact of a confirmed case tested positive, raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 119.

At a language institute in Buk-gu, three family contacts tested positive during quarantine, bringing the total confirmed cases to 31.

There are currently 949 confirmed patients hospitalized in Busan, with 18 in critical condition.