Masks No Longer Mandatory Indoors Starting Today: “Freedom” in Supermarkets, Schools and Gyms

On January 29, a notice on indoor mask recommendations is posted at the platform entrance in the Seoul Metro Line 2, City Hall Station in Jung-gu, Seoul. Kwon Do-hyun

From January 30, the mandatory mask regulation will be lifted with a few exceptions, such as public transportation and hospitals.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, from Monday, people will be free to decide whether to wear masks indoors. The government lifted the mandatory mask regulation for outdoor spaces last May, and now has changed the indoor mask regulation from mandatory to recommended. Thus, the government’s regulation enforcing mandatory masks will disappear 27 months after it was first introduced to prevent COVID-19.

Although the virus is still spreading in some countries, such as China, the winter Covid wave has passed its peak and is now in decline and the number of deaths and patients with serious symptoms also remains stable. So the government decided that we can return to everyday life in the current environment.

Due to the latest measure, people will be able to take off their masks in most places including public facilities, such as large supermarkets, department stores and shopping malls, as well as educational and care facilities, such as schools, kindergartens, day care centers and private academies (hagwon). People do not have to wear masks while waiting for public transportation in subway stations, bus stops, and the airport, and masks are no longer mandatory in sports facilities, such as the gym and swimming pool, and facilities for the elderly.

However, masks will continue to be mandatory on board public transportation and in hospitals and places vulnerable to contagion, with the exception of single rooms and private spaces.