"How Can We Trust and Buy?" Citizens Outraged Over Hygiene Controversy of Medical Masks

'COVID-19' Domestic Cases Continue for 46 Days... Mask Shortage Persists
Mask Manufacturer Wellkips Faces Hygiene Controversy in Packaging Process
Citizens Complain, "Unsanitary Packaging, Cannot Trust Masks"
Wellkips Apologizes, "Will Do Our Best to Prevent Recurrence"

A photo showing a male part-time worker, presumed to be employed at health mask manufacturer Wellkips, handling mask packaging in an unsanitary manner has been released, sparking controversy. Photo by Online Community Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads domestically, shortages of health masks such as KF80 and KF94 continue. Amid this, photos showing a part-time worker at a mask manufacturing company packaging masks with bare hands have been revealed, sparking controversy. Citizens expressed outrage, saying, "How can we trust and buy masks like this?"

On the 4th, several photos presumed to show a male part-time worker employed at the health mask manufacturer Wellkips were posted on an online community.

According to the released photos, the man is seen packaging masks with bare hands and hugging dozens of small-sized children's masks while rubbing his face against them.

These photos spread through SNS and various online communities under titles such as "KF94 masks being packaged unsanitarily," triggering hygiene-related controversies. Citizens criticized the part-time worker for not following personal hygiene rules. It was pointed out that especially for quarantine supplies, hygiene must be carefully maintained during manufacturing and packaging processes.

A 26-year-old office worker A, who recently managed to purchase masks from Wellkips, lamented, "If I had known this, I would have bought products from another manufacturer." A said, "As the COVID-19 situation worsened, it became really difficult to get masks. I struggled for days, refreshing my phone to get this mask."

He expressed anger, saying, "Although the photo shows only one part-time worker, doesn't it mean that packaging is done like this in the factory? Personal hygiene rules are important to prevent COVID-19 infection, but if the packaging process is this unsanitary, it’s completely useless. We don’t even know if that person washed their hands or not."

Comments on the official Instagram of mask manufacturer Wellkips. Consumers are demanding a thorough investigation and an apology. Photo by Wellkips Instagram capture

Consumers demanded clarification through Wellkips’ SNS comments and messages. One consumer asked, "Sir, I saw a photo on your Instagram story where someone who appears to be an employee is rubbing their face on masks and packaging them with bare hands. Is this true?" and added, "I have trusted and used only Wellkips masks even before the COVID-19 outbreak, but I was very shocked after seeing this."

Another consumer said, "A male employee was rubbing his face on masks, even on those for babies. What is this?" and added, "I saw both baby and adult masks. How can anyone wear them if they are that dirty?"

Other consumers responded with comments such as "Please provide feedback regarding mask hygiene," "How can we trust masks? I’d rather not wear a mask than wear a dirty one," and "I can’t just throw away the remaining masks. Please take action quickly."

As the controversy spread, Wellkips responded via SNS messages, stating, "We are aware of the situation through photos provided by customers and are very embarrassed," but also clarified, "We are absolutely not conducting work unsanitarily."

Wellkips explained, "Currently, during the day, we provide part-time jobs to local residents, and at night, we receive manpower through a security company. Although headquarters staff supervise overnight shifts, the reality is that the work is divided into three workplaces, making it impossible to control all workers."

They further explained, "All workers thoroughly disinfect their hands when changing tasks, and each worker is required to disinfect their hands more than 10 times a day. Working with bare hands is necessary because wearing gloves prevents disinfection and raises the risk of secondary infection. The most important thing is proper hand disinfection."

They added, "This was a malicious act by a part-time worker hired through the security company, and the company takes responsibility for failing to manage them. We will increase the deployment of headquarters staff at each workplace to prevent individual misconduct and ensure thorough hygiene management. We will do our best to prevent recurrence."