Tag: masks

Removing this mandate I think will eventually lead to more people in South Korea taking off their masks in public compared to current levels:

South Korea will end the mask mandate for public transportation next week, the government announced Wednesday, lifting one of the last-remaining COVID-19 restrictions amid a stable virus situation.

Vice Interior Minister Han Chang-seob said during a government COVID-19 response meeting that the lifting will go into effect Monday. The decision came as South Korea’s daily virus tally continues its downward trend, reaching 11,401 cases Tuesday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

By keeping the masks on public transportation this is essentially maintaining a defacto mask mandate. This is because many people will likely just keep their masks on as they walk from the subway or bus to wherever their destination is:

The most recognized emblem of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the one likely to persist, is about to lose some of its clout in Japan.

New mask guidelines from the government take effect Monday, three years after face coverings became a universal fashion accessory across the country, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s website.

The ministry will recommend individuals decide for themselves whether to wear masks in public. Never an actual mandate, mask wear persists in Japan as the pandemic wanes. 

The coronavirus continues to infect an average 9,500 people per day, a declining number. Japan on Jan. 14 experienced its highest one-day pandemic death toll, 503, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Under the guidelines revised in February, the ministry recommends wearing masks only in medical facilities and on crowded trains and local buses but says nothing about masks on Japan’s iconic shinkansen trains or long-distance buses.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The Korean government is really going to have to promote and set the example to get people to stop wearing masks when they have been socially conditioned for so long to wear them:

“I am sure that the government decided to revise the rule as it is certain about managing the virus situation. But I still want to wear the mask for the sake of myself,” Kim said as she was waiting in line for her latte at a Starbucks store in Seoul’s Seocho district.

Just like previous days, most of the people in the store masked up while waiting, except for when they were drinking or eating.

Most commuters also kept their face masks on in indoor areas of public transportation and even outside transportation hubs as they viewed masking as something between a habit and a security.

“It feels a little awkward to take off my mask,” Chang Joon-won said as he was coming out of a subway entrance in Seoul’s Seocho district to head for work. “It has become like a part of me.”

All of the around 30 people waiting for a subway train at Seoul’s Dongdaemun Station wore masks. 

“It is uncomfortable, but I will continue to wear a mask as the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet ended,” Kim Soo-ah said. 

Teachers, students and school staff showed mixed emotions about the end of the school mask mandate, as most students opted to wear face coverings while going to school.

“Nothing will immediately change, as kids are used to (wearing masks),” Park Soon-ae, a mother of two daughters, said as she escorted her kids to Daerim Elementary School in Seoul’s Dongjak district.

Over a 30-minute period, only one student showed up at school without a mask.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I can remember the days when 18,871 COVID cases in South Korea had people in a panic and now people are just accepting it like the flu. However, I still expect Koreans to continue to wear their masks for quite some time even though the mandate has ended:

South Korea’s new coronavirus cases fell below 20,000 on Sunday, just a day ahead of the country’s planned lifting of a mask mandate for indoor places that has been in place for more than three years.

The country reported 18,871 new cases, including 37 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,149,601, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The daily caseload had been above 30,000 for the second straight day Friday due to increased tests after the Lunar New Year holiday that ended Tuesday, before falling to 23,612 on Saturday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Mark your calendars, January 30th will be the end of the indoor mask mandate in South Korea:

An indoor mask mandate, which has been in place for two years and three months in Korea, will end from 12:00 a.m., Jan. 30, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Friday. But the authorities stressed that people will still be required to wear masks at high-risk facilities such as hospitals and on public transport. 

The announcement, which comes after three years since Korea confirmed its first case of the coronavirus, represents a major milestone in the government’s shift in its pandemic response to living with the virus.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but even with the end of the mandate I suspect it will take another year before people start reverting back to the old normal of not wearing masks.

It is looking more likely that the indoor mask mandate will soon be repealed, however I don’t expect Koreans will be taking off their masks anytime soon:

The government will decide when to lift the indoor mask mandate this week, as the country is past the peak of the latest winter COVID-19 wave, Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said Wednesday. 

“With this winter’s COVID-19 wave past its peak, the overall virus situation is stabilizing,” Lee said during a government virus response meeting. 

Taking the virus situation and other external factors into account, the government will determine when and to what extent the indoor mask mandate would be adjusted during the next virus response meeting scheduled for Friday, the minister noted.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Many Koreans regardless of government regulations are not going to be taking their masks off anytime soon:

Many Koreans aren’t ready to take off their masks indoors.  
   
According to a survey by polling institution Real Research Korea from Dec. 5 to 9, 44.3 percent of the 3,800 people surveyed said they would “keep their masks on” no matter what.  
   
Korea is the only OECD member nation still requiring masks be worn in all indoor spaces, a regulation it has kept since October 2020. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but you can walk around Seoul and even outdoors the majority of people are masked up. Even people jogging in the park are masked up. However, you can go into a packed restaurant with everyone eating with their masks off. It is probably going to be quite a while before people get socially reverted back to not wearing masks.

People in Korea may have to wait until after the holidays before any relief on the indoor mask mandate happens:

Korea may lift the indoor mask mandate, one of its last Covid restrictions, as early as January.  
   
Still, masks are likely to be required in hospitals and on public transport.  
   
Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) Peck Kyong-ran announced Wednesday that the government will ease the indoor mask-wearing rule early next year. The only other major Covid restriction still in force is the mandatory seven-day quarantine for confirmed patients. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but what is happening is that the government officials are going to wait until after the holiday travel period and see if another COVID wave happens. If one does then don’t expect to have the mask mandate lifted.

It seems to me that the mask mandates should be limited to places with high risk individuals such as nursing homes and hospitals:

After nearly two years since the indoor mask mandate was first implemented in Korea, experts are debating whether the government should review lifting the requirement, as a number of countries have lifted or eased the mandate.

To help curb the spread of the coronavirus, the government required mask wearing both outdoors and indoors starting from Oct. 13, 2020. The outdoor mask mandate was lifted on May 2 of this year, as the number of new infections showed a downward trend after the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 wave peaked in March.

But the requirement to wear masks in indoor spaces such as offices, cafes, hospitals and public transportation has remained in place, with violators subject to a fine of 100,000 won ($72).

However, now that other countries such as Denmark and Singapore, along with states in the U.S., have removed or eased the mask requirement for indoor spaces, some are urging the Korean government to make similar adjustments.

“Ultimately, the indoor mask mandate, as well as the mandatory self-isolation rule for virus carriers should be scrapped,” said Jung Jae-hun, a professor of preventive medicine at Gachon Medical School. “There could be differing views (among experts and authorities) on when would be the right time to remove the measures, but Korea is at a stage to begin discussions on it.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.