Consumers in South Korea are increasingly turning to ‘contactless’ services as infection cases from no relevance to China surges in the country and causes panic about the danger of the mysterious new epidemic.

According to the nation’s No.2 food delivery app Yogiyo on Wednesday, the number of deliveries rose 11 percent during February 1 to 16 compared to the period of January 6 to 21 when the virus had yet to spread across the country.

“Deliveries have grown by three to four percent every week from Jan. 20 when the first confirmed case was reported,” an official from the company said, adding that the company expects the recent rapid spread would keep more consumers indoors to avoid contact with other people.

The country’s leading food delivery app Baedal Minjok (Baemin) also saw its deliveries rise 9 percent during Jan.31 to Feb.17 compared to Jan.3 to 20. An official said the number of orders tends to decrease six to 15 percent right after a long holiday in normal times, but this year the orders increased after the Lunar New Year holiday which fell on Jan.24 - 27. The virus began spreading quickly in South Korea around the holiday.

Yogiyo said the number of customers who asked to leave the food at the door to avoid contact with the delivery man increased 13 percent last weekend compared to the same period a month ago.

Despite the government’s control measures, fears over infection are growing as the number of confirmed cases in South Korea shot up to 82 as of Thursday from just 31 on Tuesday. Most of the newly infected people were known to have visited Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu with the 31st patient. An official from the foodservice industry said more and more consumers will resort to online and mobile shopping and food delivery due to the growing fear.

By Shim Hee-jin and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]