Lotteria under fire for negligent response to coronavirus infections
A woman passes by a notice of a temporary shutdown posted at the entrance of Lotteria's Gunja branch, Wednesday. At least 11 Lotteria employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since Tuesday. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Lotteria, the fast-food chain of retail giant Lotte, has come under criticism for its bungled management of a COVID-19 outbreak that occurred among its employees, which is raising concerns over the possibility of a bigger outbreak.
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), at least 11 employees, including managers, from eight Lotteria branches in Seoul have been confirmed as infected as of noon Thursday.
The number is expected to continue increasing as authorities are carrying out an epidemiological investigation to find out who else may have come into contact with the patients.
The infection spread at a get-together of Lotteria employees on Aug. 6, during which time they discussed measures to improve work performance and had dinner together.
Lotte GRS, which runs the franchise, has been criticized for its belated efforts to inform the public about the virus outbreak among its employees.
The first patient, an employee at the Jonggak Station branch, was confirmed on Tuesday, according to the KCDC and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. But the company did not notify the public until a day later.
Lotte GRS posted a notice about the outbreak on its homepage at about 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Critics said the firm seemed to have focused on its business rather than on coping with concerns over an infection cluster.
Lotte GRS apologized, saying, “We are sincerely sorry to have worried customers. All our employees are doing their best to comply with guidelines to contain the virus, such as wearing face masks and washing their hands frequently.”
The participants of the get-together were also slammed for pushing ahead with the face-to-face meeting, even after Lotte GRS had encouraged its employees to utilize online messenger programs or video conferencing for meetings amid persistent concerns over the public health crisis.
Regarding this, a Lotte GRS official said, “The get-together was not a regular meeting, but a casual one for sharing business knowhow. We need more time to ascertain the reason they had the face-to-face meeting.”
The Lotteria cases have put the health authorities on high alert as the patients had worked at the eight branches for several days without knowing they were infected with the virus.
As most of the affected branches are located on busy streets in Seoul, authorities are facing difficulties identifying people who came into contact with the patients.
On Thursday, the city government asked citizens who have visited any of the eight Lotteria branches, including those near Seoul Station and Konkuk University, to undergo coronavirus testing.
According to the KCDC, the country identified an additional 56 virus cases, Wednesday, including 47 local infections, raising the total caseload to 14,770.
It marked the second straight day that the daily number of new infections hovered above 50 following 54 cases Tuesday.