Starbucks, new index of coronavirus confirmation status?

Starbucks Korea has put 1 meter to 1.5 meters distance between tables as part of its social distancing measures starting April 5. / Starbucks Korea

By Kim Jae-heun

Once a second ranker on the world's list of most confirmed COVID-19 cases, Korea now seems to be successfully controlling the spread of the virus and has cured many to fall down to 23rd on the list of affected nations.

When hundreds of infections were reported on a daily basis here in February, many restaurants and coffee shops closed, both voluntarily and against their will.

Starbucks was one of them, voluntarily shutting down 39 shops in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province where the coronavirus hit Korea the hardest.

But because Starbucks is a global coffee chain that operates over 31,250 stores around the world, it has become a new barometer for the virus situation in any given country by the operation of its stores.

As the situation started to improve in Korea, Starbucks Korea decided to reopen its closed shops on March 22.

Now all Starbucks locations in in Korea have reopened, except one in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province. The building where it is located is currently shut down as a quarantine measure.

In China, where the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases peaked two months ago, Starbucks also closed half of some 4,200 shops there. Now, that its ranking has fallen down to seventh in the world and the spread of the virus there is slowing, most locations of the U.S. coffee franchise have reportedly reopened in many Chinese cities.

On the other hand, Japan has seen a drastic increase in the number of coronavirus confirmations after Prime Minister Abe Shinzo announced that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will be postponed to next year.

At the same time, Starbucks Japan said it will shut down a number of shops there and shorten business hours of others in an effort to prevent further spread of the virus.

Starbucks Korea, however, said it will maintain its social distancing practice that puts 1.5 meters distance between tables until the government decides to loosen the regulation.

The government said Sunday it will continue social distancing measures until May 5 across the country.

“We do not want to become careless. We are currently operating our stores according to our guidelines provided internally. We've carried out disinfection work at stores where patients confirmed to be infected by the virus have visited. All the stores temporarily shut down before have all opened again now,” a Starbucks Korea official said.

“In Japan, the situation is getting worse and I believe they are closing their shops as a preventive measure.”

Starbucks Korea temporarily removed one third of the tables at all its coffee shops here as part of social distancing practices starting April 5. All the tables are adjusted to be 1 meter to 1.5 meters away from each other and only two customers can sit at one table at a time.

The coffee franchise stopped using mugs at stores to prevent the spread of the virus. It has switched back to disposable cups, after having started an eco-friendly movement last year to stop their use in its stores.