Lotte Duty Free has implemented real-time response measures to curb the growth of Coronavirus. Pictured are employees manning the information desk on the tenth floor of the travel retailer’s Myeongdong main shop.

Lotte Duty Free has established an emergency response committee chaired by CEO Kap Lee to help protect its customers and employees against the spread of Coronavirus.

The South Korean travel retail giant is conducting daily fever checks on its personnel; carrying out more regular disinfection procedures; increasing the number of available hand sanitisers; and making it mandatory for shop staff to wear face masks, which are available to customers.

Those returning from China will be monitored for signs of the virus and ill or pregnant employees will be able to take special leave.

DEATH TOLL SURPASSES ONE HUNDRED

Lotte Duty Free CEO Kap Lee said: “Lotte Duty Free plans to make prompt and additional countermeasures in the future, with the highest priority on customer and employee safety.

“We will continue our organic response through close cooperation with relevant organisations such as the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Incheon International Airport Corporation and Korea Airport Corporation.”

At the time of writing, it is being widely reported that the new Coronavirus 2019-nCoV strain has claimed the lives of more than 100 and infected more than 4,500.

International media are reporting that Hong Kong is shutting its cross-border crossing links with the mainland by stopping trains – including the city’s high-speed railway service – limiting bus services and cutting flights by half.