[Reportage] S. Korea’s gyms and sports facilities reopen after intense social distancing period

Posted on : 2020-04-21 17:30 KST Modified on : 2020-04-21 17:30 KST
Businesses still try to maintain distance between members while regularly sanitizing and ventilating
After the South Korean military reinitiated recruitment after a two-month suspension, new recruits await testing at a screening center in front of the Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration on Apr. 20. (Yonhap News)
After the South Korean military reinitiated recruitment after a two-month suspension, new recruits await testing at a screening center in front of the Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration on Apr. 20. (Yonhap News)

At 6:30 am on Apr. 20, after the South Korean government relaxed its social distancing rules, a swimming pool in Seoul’s Jongno District was crowded with swimmers, despite the early hour. Four or five people were energetically making their way down each of the pool’s five lanes.

Quite a few elderly people were also visible at the pool. “Eight people in our group will be here today,” one woman, who appeared to be in her 70s, said excitedly.

Attendance was down about 20% from January, before the coronavirus outbreak began. But that was still a significant turnout, considering that the two weeks of intense social distancing had just come to an end. Several of the pools’ members were even wearing snorkel masks in an attempt to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

“We’ve resumed normal operations today, but it seems that quite a few of our members either don’t know that we’ve reopened or aren’t coming out because they’re worried about the coronavirus,” said an employee at the health center where the pool is located.

On Monday, the South Korean government eased its rules for four categories of public facilities (churches, nightlife establishments, indoor sports facilities, and private academies), now recommending that they run their operations on a limited basis, instead of closing altogether. These were the facilities that the government thought might be vulnerable to infection clusters.

Business owners have gladly opened their doors, while stir-crazy citizens who are fed up with social distancing have flocked to sports facilities. Even so, these businesses seem to be carefully following the government’s disease control guidelines, which include checking visitors for fever when they come in and out, ensuring they maintain a certain distance from other people, prohibiting shared items, and airing out the premises.

A yoga studio in Seoul’s Mapo District that had closed at the end of February, when the coronavirus began to spread around the country, finally reopened on Apr. 20. A thermal imaging camera is installed at the entrance to the building, checking the body temperature of everyone who visits.

By reducing class size from 20 to 10 (including the instructor), the yoga studio is able to ensure that all class participants stay about two meters apart. Participants keep their masks on throughout the class. “I was worried about the coronavirus, but I was reassured to see the class going smoothly despite the distancing,” said a 32-year-old who attended the class.

Many customers still nervous and waiting before returning to normal training

But there are indications that owners and customers are still nervous, believing that it’s too soon to return to normal. “My training hall has about 120 members, but about 20 or 30 said they would come in today. I’m told that other training halls only had about 10 people show up,” said Kim Jeong-kwon, 37, the owner of a kendo martial arts center in Seoul’s Seocho District.

Before reopening his training hall, Kim took thorough action to prevent infection. On top of a visitors’ log, he also set up checklists to make sure the hall is being disinfected and ventilated on schedule. Since it wouldn’t be practical for students to wear a mask under the protective headgear used in kendo, Kim bought some protective film to cover the mouth and prevent spit from flying.

A taekwondo training hall in Daegu finally reopened on Monday, three months after shutting down on Feb. 18, following the announcement of the first coronavirus patient in the city. “Our plan is to hold classes of no more than 10 students, keeping them two meters apart. Since parents are still anxious, I think we’re only going to see attendance of around 20 to 30% of what we had three months ago,” said the head of the training hall, which generally caters to students in middle and high school.

“I took advantage of our break to fix up some run-down areas [in the training hall]. It’s a difficult time for us, but I’m trying to think of this as a time to catch up on repairs.”

It also appears that group meetings are resuming and that companies are having their employees return to the office. Even though the government’s recommended shutdown didn’t apply to them, many companies had asked their employees to work from home out of respect for the intense social distancing. Numerous employees have been logging onto social media to share their excitement (or dread) about returning to the office after such a long absence.

“Starting on Apr. 25, we’re planning to have our 50 members meet for practice in four groups of a dozen or so. All members have agreed to wear masks for practice, except for those playing wind instruments, who wouldn’t be able to do that,” the member of a community orchestra said.

By Chai Yoon-tae and Jeon Gwang-joon, staff reporters

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

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