Koreans Tired of Prolonged Social Distancing

People enjoy warm weather at the Han River Park in Yeouido, Seoul on March 28. /Yonhap

Koreans have been practicing strenuous social distancing for almost two months to stem the spread of the coronavirus and are growing increasingly impatient.

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Many people have begun to fill indoor spaces as well as the balmy outdoors, raising the risk of a renewed spike in infections.

Everland amusement park just south of Seoul was packed with visitors on Wednesday afternoon. They were wearing masks and had their temperature checked at the entrance and were seated relatively far apart on the rides, but the size of the crowds was almost normal for a spring afternoon. On some popular rides people had to wait for 40 minutes to board.

Seoul Grand Park Zoo, also just south of Seoul, drew more than 2,000 visitors on Wednesday. Their number had fallen to 500 a day earlier this month but reached around 1,800 last week. Most indoor facilities were closed, but crowds converged at the cages with wild animals.   

One 59-year-old who lives in northern Seoul said he finally stepped out of his home last weekend to eat out with his wife after spending weeks indoors.

"It looks like people are tired of social distancing judging by the crowd of people in the restaurant I went to and others as well", he said.

Officials are scratching their heads when it comes to keeping people apart. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has shut down public parking lots at Han River parks to keep people away, but they are not easily deterred.

Seoul Grand Park Zoo will set up monitors at every cage starting this weekend to advise visitors to maintain a certain distance from others and keep their face masks on. One zoo staffer said, "Announcements and routine patrols were not effective".

A city official said, "Voluntary social distancing played a key role in easing the initial spike in infections, but an increasing failure to abide by it could cause major complications for quarantine efforts. We're asking people to go to parks or other places near their home if they feel the need for fresh air and stay out as little time as possible while keeping enough distance from one another".