Starbucks workers wearing masks saved from COVID outbreak after infected customer's visit

Earlier this month, a woman infected with the novel coronavirus visited Starbucks in the North of South Korea’s capital city Seoul. Reports suggest that after this incident, two dozens of customers tested positive for the deadly virus. However, four employees who were wearing face masks escaped the infection. Gang Young-do, a spokesperson for the Paju government reportedly said that most customers did not consistently wear masks because they were drinking and eating while in the cafe.

Various places mandate masks

Pediatric infectious diseases physician at Changwon Fatima Hospital in South Korea, Ma Sang Hyuk reportedly said that this incident spoke volumes about the role that masks can play during the pandemic. She added that masks might not provide 100% protection but people have nothing else apart from masks to fight the pandmic. While health authorities around the world are still debating if face masks are useful or not, Seoul has mandated the wearing of face masks in both indoor and outdoor public places on August 24. According to the reports, South Korea has a total of 17,945 infections with 310 casualties. Most of the people recently infected live in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan region. The health workers are struggling hard to track transmissions from various sources, including churches, restaurants, schools and workers.

Read: WHO Says Children Above 12 Years Should Wear Masks Like Adults To Reduce Risk Of COVID-19

According to the reports, guidance on wearing face masks is now being issued all across the globe. On August 24, Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern reportedly said that masks will become mandatory in the country for residents using public transport and inside ride sharing vehicles. However, some countries in the United States still show resistance to mask wearing as misinformation over their effectiveness has been spreading. 

Read: Man Held For Black-marketing Of N-95 Masks

Initially, South Korea gained a lot of praise for its success in tackling the novel coronavirus. The country used measures like extensive testing and aggressive contact-tracing. However, health ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said that the health investigators had been unable to determine the transmission routes of about 20% of the recent cases and this has been raising concerns over the silent spreaders.

Read: Venice Film Festival Attendees To Wear Facemasks, Maintain Social Distancing

Also Read: Seoul Mandates Face Masks After Sudden Surge In COVID-19 Cases

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