Seoul is quiet 3
Since August 30, South Korea began restricting the operations of restaurants, bakeries, and cafe chains in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, while re-imposing level two social distancing regulations to curb social distancing.
The above areas are applying the `social distancing level 2.5` policy, which is applied for 8 days.
Coffee chains are also only allowed to sell takeout or home delivery at any time, after outbreak clusters related to cafes are recorded.
A Starbucks cafe in central Seoul folded tables and chairs and put up ropes to practice social distancing on August 30.
The above measures left the streets in vibrant areas of Seoul such as Hongdae, Jongno and Gangnam, which are usually bustling on weekends and at night, almost deserted.
`Not even half of the usual number. The number of customers is only 1/10. Only 4 groups came for lunch. This is the worst time in my 13 years of opening a restaurant,` Kim, 60
In Gangnam, bars and restaurants also have many empty tables and customers are ready to leave before 9pm.
Restaurant and bar owners in Incheon and Gyeonggi are also facing difficulties.
`I don’t dare accept customers to eat at the restaurant after 8pm because I don’t want to argue with them about the time they have to leave,` said the owner of a seafood restaurant.
Meanwhile, delivery staff and online restaurants are becoming busier.
This morning, the streets of Seoul had fewer vehicles and passersby during rush hour, as companies encouraged employees to work from home.
`I started working from home today. The company allowed employees to work remotely for the first time because the number of infections continued to increase,` said Oh Yun-mi, 36 years old.
The streets in Jongno, central Seoul, were deserted on August 30.
Exam cram schools, which were opened during the first epidemic in March, were also closed.
The government has reduced the number of employees working at public headquarters, while many corporations, including `giants` such as Samsung and LG, extended or re-established remote working policies.
Korea is applying a 3-level social distancing system.
Level three will be applied when the number of new daily infections reaches an average of 100-200 cases and doubles twice within a week.
Officials fear level three will seriously affect people’s livelihoods and the economy.
The latest restrictions are expected to gradually reduce the number of new daily infections, cases of unknown origin and clusters by the end of this week.
