The First Weekend with COVID-19 Cases, Empty and Silent Gwangju

Department Stores and Movie Theaters 'Deserted'

Direct Hits on Bathhouses and Flood of Pension Cancellation Inquiries

After the first weekend following the confirmation of a COVID-19 case in Gwangju Metropolitan City, foot traffic to multi-use facilities has stopped, leaving the first-floor lobby of a department store quiet.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] On the first weekend after a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus infection occurred in the Gwangju area, the downtown was deserted to the point of silence.

Around 1 p.m. on the 9th, the basement first floor food court of Gwangju Shinsegae Department Store.

This place is usually so crowded on weekends and holidays that it is difficult to find an empty table, but on this day, there were more empty tables than occupied ones.

Except for a few popular stores, there was no sight of people lining up to place orders.

One store that usually uses two tables to mix bread and chocolate cleared one table and used only one due to the lack of customers.

The first-floor lobby, which houses luxury brand stores and coffee shops and is usually bustling with people, was unusually quiet on this day.

The situation was the same at the movie theater.

For one movie, with only about 10 minutes left before the start, only about 15 out of 80 seats were sold.

Checking through smartphone apps and kiosks (unmanned comprehensive information guidance systems), most movies had only 15 to 20 seats sold.

The restaurant street in Chipyeong-dong, Seo-gu, which usually suffers from illegal parking extending to side streets, was also quiet.

Some passersby hurried along wearing masks.

Citizen Jung Mo (33, female) said, “It’s the first time I’ve seen this place so empty,” adding, “To exaggerate a bit, it feels like a ghost town from a movie about an epidemic.”

Yangdong Market, the largest traditional market in Honam, also saw a sharp drop in visitors.

Shoppers were few and far between, and some stores were completely closed.

Each store was broadcasting special reports about the coronavirus on TV or radio.

Lee Mo (63), who has sold seafood at Yangdong Market for decades, said, “Although it’s the off-season after the holidays, it’s rare to have so few customers,” sighing, “I have to close up empty-handed today as well. I hope the coronavirus calms down soon.”

Because the coronavirus spreads through droplet infection (infection through small droplets such as saliva released when an infected person coughs or sneezes), bathhouses and jjimjilbangs (Korean saunas) were hit hard, and accommodation facilities such as pensions in the Jeonnam area are receiving a flood of cancellation inquiries.

Park Mo (35), who has operated a pension in Yeosu for several years, said, “We often receive calls asking about cancellations, and currently, we allow cancellations without fees unless it is a same-day cancellation,” expressing, “I feel the economy has worsened due to the coronavirus.”

Meanwhile, as the novel coronavirus spreads nationwide, causing a shortage of hand sanitizers, acts of kindness toward vulnerable groups continue.

On the 7th, Kim Hongmin, head of Kia AutoQ Namgwangju Service Center, donated five boxes of hand sanitizer (16 liters per box) to the Wolsan-dong Administrative Welfare Center in Nam-gu, Gwangju, asking that they be delivered to neighbors in need.

It is known that Mr. Kim donated after hearing that vulnerable neighbors such as elderly living alone are susceptible to infectious diseases following the confirmation of coronavirus cases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.