Self-employed people took a sigh on the first day of easing quarantine rules

“Now I have a little breath.”

As the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) quarantine regulations were eased on the 18th, cafe owners in the metropolitan area, where only packaging and delivery were allowed, and gym and academy operators, who had to lower the shutters, are antagonizing.

In accordance with the government’s new quarantine regulations, cafes can be eaten in stores until 9:00 PM like restaurants, and indoor sports facilities such as gyms and multi-use facilities such as academies are limited to one per 8㎡ (2.4 pyeong). The central gathering ban has been lifted.

Mr. A (42), who runs a coffee shop in Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, said, “Our store has 85% of the total sales of the hall, so we have been suffering too much.” Rested.

He added, “But after the business suspension, I sent out all two part-time students, but I haven’t yet found someone to work for,” he added, adding, “I am not able to do this or that because I think the situation will change again later when I choose a new Alba.”

As a cafe in the metropolitan area, which was banned from eating and drinking in stores due to the second stage of social distancing on November 24, last year, it is likely to resume normal business in almost two months.

In cafes, it is mandatory to float tables one by one, use only 50% of the seats, leave a distance of 1 meter between tables, or install partitions.

B (42), a cafe owner in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, posted phrases that read’no more than 5 people’ and’only 1 hour per table’ and received customers.

Mr. B said, “It was a pity that we had no choice but to refuse the customer’s request if it would be okay to stay in the cold weather for a while, but it is really nice to see the store business resumed.” I will thoroughly follow the guidelines,” he said.

On the other hand, it was not difficult to find a small business that would only do delivery and packaging operations for the time being.

A cafe owner in Suji-gu, Yongin said, “People are reluctant to go out and take-out sales have fallen considerably. When the hall is opened, heating and labor costs will be burdened, and it will be burdensome.” “I think” he said.

On December 8, last year, the gym, which had been stopped by 2.5 steps of social distancing, was also energized by raising the shutter again that day.

A sports center in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, visited 3 to 4 members from 9 am to perform strength exercises.

An official at the gym said, “We have extended the period of use for members by the period due to the suspension of operation, and we are also doing discount events that ended before.”

The member who resumed the exercise said, “I felt like I had all the muscles melted in my body due to muscle loss because I couldn’t exercise in the meantime,” and said, “Because I can come back to the gym, I have to choose a time when there are no people.”

Gym directors said they were receiving calls from members asking how many people can exercise at once, what is the operating hours, and whether they can take a shower after exercise.

Oh Won-seok, 37, who runs a gym in Paju City, said, “Half of the members are office workers, and calls are continuing to be called to fear that people will be crowded if they come to exercise after work.” ‘Even though I sent a text message, there was a member who wanted to take a shower this morning.’

In the academy where face-to-face classes were resumed, students were divided into as many classes as possible by adjusting the timetable, and they followed the quarantine rules, such as sitting two spaces apart between students.

“I consulted with the students in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, and reassembled the timetable in the direction of dividing the timetable as much as possible.” .

Some large academies had difficulty complying with the number of students limit, so they maintained the existing non-face-to-face teaching method and conducted face-to-face classes only for some students.

Lee Seon-ki, senior vice president of the Korean Academy of Education Association (Chairman of Incheon Branch) said, “If you look at the statistics for the last 20 days, 34 academies were closed in Incheon alone, and the number of private tutoring schools increased by 117,” he said. While following the current quarantine rules, some classes are possible, but after the start of school, it is impossible.”

Meanwhile, the relaxed quarantine rules will be applied from the 18th to the 31st of this month.

(Reporter Kim Sol, Kwon Jun-woo, Choi Jae-hoon and Hong Hyun-ki)

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