Is It Time to Get Rid of Indoor Mask Mandates in South Korea?
Even if the ROK government lifts the indoor mask mandate I think most people will still be wearing masks indoors anyway. It just seems people are not so conditioned to wearing masks that they actually prefer to wear them indoors now:
A debate has reignited over the indoor face mask mandate following a move by the Daejeon city government to lift the requirement in the region, going against the nationwide directive that has been in place for over two years.
Korea Times
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has requested the city government to refrain from making unilateral decisions in COVID-19 response measures. But Daejeon’s move has added pressure on the government to expedite its discussions on dropping the mask mandate, as the country is experiencing a less threatening winter surge than previous years.
The nationwide requirement to wear masks in indoor spaces such as offices, cafes, hospitals and public transportation was first implemented in October 2020. After the outdoor mask mandate was lifted in May of this year, there have been growing calls among the pandemic-weary public that the government should begin to ease the indoor requirement as well.
You can read more at the link.
They want to be serfs. After all, it’s what everyone else is doing!!
I’d be all for pulling an England and dropping the mandate entirely, country-wide. Maybe we’ll see a spike in infections; maybe we won’t. We almost certainly won’t see a spike in deaths; the death rate in Korea has always been extremely low. Time for politicians, left and right, to let go of hysterical fear and let the people run free, as they should have done over two years ago. Yes, a lot of Koreans do still wear masks and will continue to do so. For some, it’s simple cowardice fueled by superstition and no understanding of science. For others, it’s just a habit to mask up (Koreans masked up because of bad air quality long before the pandemic). For still others, it’s a matter of social pressure: no one wants to be the wang-dda without the mask.
It’s more complicated than that, though, as I saw last year while walking along the east coast. If Seoul is like the tower of the Eye of Sauron, then the east coast of Korea understands it’s far away from that evil eye. I saw plenty of unmasked people, young and old, outdoors and indoors. Very few people seemed to care about the mask mandate, and very few seemed worried about enforcement. So it might be wrong to form an impression of all of South Korea based only on people’s behavior in the big cities. If the mask mandate were to drop, citizens along the east coast would probably be among the first to drop their masks as well—and gladly. By contrast, big cities all across the world are full of neurotic people who are unable to relax or to understand the calmer small-town and rural mentality. Dropping the mask mandate will only make such people clench up even more fearfully (yes, I’m generalizing; of course there will be exceptions in the cities). This year, when I did my circuit of Jeju, I saw a lot of maskless people as well, especially in the restaurants, although masks were on inside buses and taxis.
As I said: it’s a complicated problem. But I’d personally be for dumping the mask mandate, which has been a joke from the beginning.
My Korean wife had Covid for a week and got over it. Maybe good health is not racist?
should have never been one in the first place, masks are worthless, known to be worthless; only used to make people submit and comply.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRNwqBKVWlw
It’s not much because of “hysterical fear” and more of they don’t want to be blamed.
For those who have lived here for a long time, it is common knowledge, that the blame game is the national pastime here to the point that it also decides which party will get the seats and the positions.
Politicians here both on the left and the right don’t want to get blamed for spikes in infections and such and want to maintain a clean slate until the parliamentary elections at 2024.
There is also a board of “scientists” and “experts”, who are advising the government on matters of Covid policy.
If they recommend that the mask mandate be kept and the government decide to eliminate it, and if the infections spike, they can say that they recommended otherwise and lay the blame square on the government and the ruling party. And we know that the government and ruling party don’t want it on them.
The best thing that the government can do before removing the mask mandate is to keep to its word and stop counting cases.
Despite previous declarations, the civil servants and still counting and those numbers end up in the media, who duly make a big deal out of them.
By stopping the counting once and for all, it would cool things down and help prepare for the elimination of the mask mandate.
I should have been clearer, TOK. That’s actually the hysterical fear I was thinking of.
Saint Fauci is still demanding masks and lockdowns—and praising China’s near genocidal efforts.
By the way, over 3 percent of China’s GDP are the tests they require everyone to take. Bumped up now to once every 48 hours in most places.
The loss of liberty is a much more serious threat than any version of COVID.