At least 11 employees at a local fast-food franchise were said to have tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials said on Wednesday, raising concerns over a possibly bigger outbreak.
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According to health authorities and the Seoul city government ten employees of Lotteria were found to have had a meeting at the franchise restaurant near Gunja subway station in the eastern Seoul ward of Gwangjin between 3:18 and 5:25 p.m. on Aug. 6.
They later visited two other restaurants in the area, with nine more people joining them.
An employee who lives in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, first tested positive on Tuesday, and three others, all Seoul residents, also tested positive on the same day.
Additional infections were reported on Wednesday, bringing the number of cases to 11 as of 6 p.m.
“The people who participated in the meeting did not wear masks while they met for a long time,’’ an official at Central Disease Control Headquarters said.
Officials are conducting epidemiological research to track down others who may have visited venues the employees visited or come into contact with those who were infected.
Lotte GRS, which runs the franchise, said the meeting was not a regular meeting but one that was scheduled for participants to share management know-how.
The company closed and disinfected its restaurant near the Jonggak subway station in central Seoul on Tuesday after an employee there tested positive. It reopened on Wednesday.
The company has also closed seven other branches including those in the central Seoul wards of Jung and Yongsan to disinfect them.