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The question lurks in those eyes about the possible relationship between you and the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19. No one is quite sure how to interact socially, anymore.
Since the massive outbreak was a given after the nation's first patient was reported in mid-January, the health authorities have been strongly advising people to keep a "social distance." This is 2 meters or roughly 6 feet distance, especially from those who seem to be exhibiting signs of a fever or are coughing.
Keeping a social distance would not be an easy feat for anyone, and especially Koreans who like to huddle when they socialize, sharing drinks, soup and side dishes. But here and there, furtively, hesitantly and anxiously, some distance-maintenance is seen to be under way.
People are split into separate teams or asked to work from home, so as to leave contingency plans afloat should COVID-19 engulf the nation. Schools will be shuttered for much of March.
Some restaurants in Seoul ask customers to spray their hands on entering, others are using disposable plates and cutlery in order to keep business afloat.
Neighborhood clinics are asking anyone who suspects they have a fever not to come to their facilities, and instead to call first so that a nurse can check their temperature. And that is after enquiring on the COVID-19 emergency hotline 1339 about how to go about self-checking health status. The health authorities advise people to stay at home for two to three days if they are experiencing a fever or are coughing before attempting to walk into a neighborhood clinic. Those strongly suspected of having the virus must head to a designated clinic.
With social interaction cut off, the flurry of messages pouring in through group chat-rooms via Kakao, WhatsAPP or Facebook serve as the lifeline for those who find it hard to have conversations as in the "old" days. In fact, those who faced the onslaught of COVID-19 earlier than we did, such as people in China and those aboard the Diamond Princess docked off Yokohama, Japan, have been cited as saying social networks helped them.
Even for this writer, a morning ritual is to check group chats for friends in Daegu, in North America and other parts of the world. Concerns are expressed, questions are asked and any knowledge about how to make cotton masks and hand sanitizers using ethanol and aloe gel are shared. It's one of the cheapest and gratifying ways to stay in touch, and so you wish that the nation's elderly would have such resources at hands too.
Online community cafes and media outlets are doing their part, and governments around the world are putting credible guidelines out there as the world learns more about COVID-19.
More than 50 days after the first case of COVID-19 in South Korea and then the "super spread" among members of the minor religious sect, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which sent the number of cases shooting upward, people are dealing with uncertainties ― not quite sure yet whether COVID-19 will uproot their routine and the simple joys of daily life.
In the process comes an appreciation of such routines, small chats and interactions. You can see it in the eyes. After a split-second of internal dilemma, the eyes behind the mask manage to come up with a greeting, a smile.
