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Government employees eat lunch at a cafeteria in Gwangju City Hall on July 22. (provided by Gwangju Metropolitan City)

The landscapes of daily life have been changing for Gwangju citizens as the city implements Level 2 social distancing measures for a third straight week to combat the spread of COVID-19. Cafeterias in City Hall and district offices limit diners to 49 at a time, with other caps in place on visitors to wedding halls and funeral homes.

Since July 20, Gwangju has been limiting the number of diners at cafeterias to 49 at a time. The number of people waiting for spaces in the cafeterias has also been limited to 49. Although the cafeterias are not subject to an administrative order banning assemblies and gatherings as part of the Level 2 distancing measures, the number of diners has been capped at 49 as a preventive measure.

The city government has divided lunch periods into four blocks to prevent its 2,000 employees from crowding into the city hall cafeteria. Lee Don-guk, the director of its general affairs division, explained, “The building has been separated into blocks of three to seven floors, which have four different lunchtime blocks starting at 11:30 am.” The Gwangsan District Office has set up hygiene partitions in its cafeteria, allowing only half as many diners as its 250 seats permit. The district has also reduced wait times by dividing cafeteria usage times into two blocks by department. A number of government employees have been arriving with their own packed lunches.

“We had been using the cafeteria, but these days seven of us employees have been packing our own lunches and eating together,” explained a Gwangju city employee identified by the initial “J.”

The Level 2 social distancing measures have also altered the landscape of personal gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and alumni meetings. While assemblies, gatherings, and events are permitted under Level 1 social distancing as long as people observe disease prevention rules, Level 2 distance bars assemblies, gatherings, and events involving 50 or more people indoors and 100 or more people outdoors. Violations of the administrative order banning assemblies could result in people being reported to investigators for violation of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act.

Seventeen wedding halls in Gwangju have reduced their capacity to 49 seats. Only direct relations of the bride and groom are allowed to occupy the 49 seats, while friends and acquaintances must observe the ceremony from outside the hall. Yoon Min-i, an employee at a wedding hall in the Gakhwa neighborhood of Gwangju’s Buk (North) District, explained, “We’ve lowered the number of people for the payment guarantee requiring a certain number of guests to eat to reduce the burden of people having to pay even if they don’t eat.”

Thirty funeral homes are also observing Level 2 distancing measures. Many of the mourners either convey their condolences indirectly or immediately leave the homes after expressing them in person. Masses and dharma meetings at 54 Catholic churches and 114 Buddhist temples have been suspended since July 1. As of July 19, just 404 of Gwangju’s 1,492 Protestant churches -- or 27% -- were substituting their services with online ones.

By Jung Dae-ha, Gwangju correspondent

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