Seoul orders COVID-19 tests for department store staff

Department stores in the capital have recently become hotbeds of infection.

The Seoul metropolitan government in South Korea has ordered some 128,000 employees of department stores to take preemptive COVID-19 tests as a precaution against further cluster infections at the stores, Yonhap reported.

The city government will issue an administrative order on 23 July under which all managers and workers at 32 department stores in Seoul will be required to get a COVID-19 test between 24 July and 21 August.

Park said the city initially asked department stores to conduct preemptive tests on 7 July but decided to take stronger action amid concern about community spread.

Department stores in Seoul have recently become hotbeds of infection, with a total of 160 cases being reported as of 14 July. Hyundai Department Store's Trade Center Store reported 147 cases, whilst The Hyundai Seoul reported seven and The Galleria's Luxury Hall six.

The capital area has seen record-breaking levels of new COVID-19 cases in recent days, with Seoul accounting for 570 of the total 1,536 in the country on 16 July.