Prime Minister Han, “Mandatory Indoor Mask Regulation to Be Eased to Recommendation Beginning January 30”

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo removes his mask in a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters in response to COVID-19 at the government office in Seoul on the morning of January 20. Yonhap News

On Friday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo announced, “In the Central Headquarters meeting today, we plan to discuss and finalize a decision to ease the mandatory indoor mask regulation to a recommendation, with the exception of some facilities, starting January 30.”

The prime minister made the announcement in a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters in response to COVID-19, which he presided over in the government office in Seoul Friday.

Prime Minister Han explained that the current situation met three of the four conditions for adjusting government guidelines on indoor masks, established last December. The three conditions were a steady number of new patients, a drop in the number of deaths and patients with severe symptoms, and the capacity for a stable medical response. He said, “We believe external risk factors are also within a level that we can sufficiently manage.”

Han said, “After taking into consideration the fact that the number of people traveling and in-person contact would increase during the Seol (lunar New Year) holiday, we decided to ease the regulation to a recommendation after the holiday.”

However, the prime minister said, “For the time being, we will maintain mandatory masks in hospitals, pharmacies, facilities vulnerable to infection, and public transportation to protect the people vulnerable to transmission,” and added, “We will actively review a shift to recommendation according to the changes in transmission.”

Prime Minister Han said that although the mask guidelines might be eased, the danger of COVID-19 still remained around us and advised people in high-risk groups, such as the elderly, to wear masks anytime in places that they deemed at risk.

The prime minister continued and said, “Due to the easing of mask regulations, vaccination has become more important,” and strongly asked people in high-risk groups, such as those ages sixty and older, and senior citizens residing in facilities vulnerable to transmission who have not yet received the vaccine to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Han mentioned how the number of daily new cases jumped significantly during the last Seol holiday week and explained that the number of new Covid cases could temporarily climb when we eased indoor mask restrictions.

According to the prime minister, the government will respond by making thorough preparations in the operation of screening clinics, one-stop treatment centers, pharmacies on duty, and special hospital beds for children, mothers giving birth, and dialysis patients to guarantee the smooth diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 over the holiday.

Prime Minister Han said, “We will do our utmost for the safety of the people until the day when mask restrictions are completely lifted for everyone,” and asked the people to carefully maintain personal hygiene and to keep cooperating with the government’s disease control policies.

He said, “The number of Covid patients is continuing to decline for the third consecutive week this year” and added, “There was concerns due to the surge of Covid cases in China, but the situation in our country is under control with no major problems.”