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| A sign displayed inside a building in Seoul reads that visitors are required to wear face masks, Dec. 7, 2022. Yonhap |
Gov't to hold meeting with experts Tuesday to discuss easing mask mandate
By Lee Hyo-jin
The government remains prudent over scrapping the indoor mask mandate despite its previous plans to review relaxing the measures actively once the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations enter a stable downward trend.
The number of new infections and critical cases have been showing a declining trend over the last couple of weeks, with 32,570 daily cases reported for Saturday, marking the lowest figure for a Saturday in three months. The number of patients in critical condition came to 499, falling below the 500-benchmark in 29 days since marking 468 on Dec. 17. The fatality rate stands at 0.11 percent.
Korea is currently the only country among OECD member states requiring masks to be worn in all indoor spaces after the measure was implemented in October 2020.
Earlier in December, the government announced that, if two out of four criteria are met, masks will no longer be a requirement but instead a recommendation in public places except for high-risk facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies and public transportation.
The four criteria are: a stable number of daily infections and specifically, continuously declining infection numbers over a two-week period, reductions in the number of critical cases and the fatality rate, a sufficient capacity of ICU beds to treat critically ill patients and booster vaccination coverage among the elderly.
As of Sunday, three out of these four criteria ― except for booster vaccination coverage among the elderly ― have reached target figures, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Nevertheless, the health authorities are still deliberating over whether to end the mandate.
The health ministry said it will hold a meeting with experts on Tuesday to discuss the lifting of the measure. The authorities are anticipated to share details of the meeting either on Jan. 18 or 20. It remains uncertain whether the mandate will be dropped before the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, which runs from Jan. 21 to 24.
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| A woman arriving from China enters a COVID-19 testing center at Incheon International Airport, Jan. 5. AP-Yonhap |
The KDCA is still closely watching the influx of infections from China due to lingering risks of the possible emergence of new variants from the neighboring country. The agency said Korea should remain vigilant as Beijing is bracing for another spike in cases after the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays, during which a majority of the population is expected to be traveling in some capacity.
KDCA data showed that a total of 558 infection cases were recorded in arrivals from China between Jan. 2 and 14, accounting for 15.4 percent of the total 3,627 short-term travelers from China.
Jeong Jae-hun, a professor of preventive medicine at Gachon Medical Center, who is one of the expert panel members meeting on Tuesday with the health ministry, viewed that the nation is overall prepared for easing the mask mandate as planned.
"It seems appropriate to carry on with the roadmap on easing the mask requirement as previously announced. We have sufficient capacity in our medical system to deal with a possible surge of infections, and the immunity level among the population is now relatively high," he said.
A recent study released by the Korea National Institute of Health (NIH) found that 98.6 percent of the population had antibodies against the spike protein of the coronavirus either by vaccination or natural immunity after infection. The study, conducted between Dec. 7 and 22 last year involved 7,528 individuals. Among them, 70 percent developed antibodies following previous infections.
