Park Neung-hoo "Considering Ride Restrictions for Not Wearing Masks on Public Transportation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Park Neung-hoo, the first deputy head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of Health and Welfare), announced on the 25th that "we will consider restricting public transportation access for passengers not wearing masks."

At the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held at the Government Complex Sejong on the same day, Deputy Head Park said, "Wearing a mask is the most important rule to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19)."

The government is considering measures to strengthen mask-wearing on public transportation, including restricting access for passengers not wearing masks and mandating mask use for transportation workers.

Deputy Head Park urged, "Please be sure to wear a mask when using public transportation and public facilities, and refrain from entering facilities with high density where the risk of infection is high."

Regarding the 'school reopening' that will begin sequentially from this week, the government plans to have students check their health status daily starting one week before returning to school and to stop attending school if any suspicious symptoms appear.

Deputy Head Park said, "The cluster infection that started in Itaewon currently has 1.3 times more additional infections caused by contact than direct visitors," and added, "Please cooperate to prevent community infections from spreading to schools and student infections from spreading back to the community."

The government also expressed concern about 'silent transmission' as the proportion of confirmed cases in their 20s and 30s is relatively high.

Deputy Head Park said, "People in their 20s and 30s often have no symptoms or only mild symptoms, so there is concern about silent transmission within the community through undetected infected individuals," and added, "If you used multi-use facilities at the same time as recently confirmed cases visited, please get tested regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms."