Will Indoor Masks Be Removed Before Seollal Holiday?...Key Indicators Remain Stable

Continued Decline in COVID Rebound
Severe Cases Drop to 400s After 4 Weeks
Holiday Contact Increase a Variable

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, expert discussions are underway to decide on lifting the indoor mask-wearing mandate. Since the key quarantine indicators presented by the government are being managed stably, the decision to lift the indoor mask mandate is expected as early as this week. However, considering that face-to-face contact is expected to increase during the holiday period, the actual implementation may be postponed until after the holiday.

Indoor mask stock photo.

According to the quarantine authorities on the 16th, the National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee plans to hold a meeting on the afternoon of the 17th to evaluate the status of the indoor mask mandate adjustment indicators. Since the authorities decided to determine whether to adjust the indoor mask mandate after gathering expert opinions, attention is focused on the results of this meeting. A representative from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency stated, "We will collect the advisory committee's opinions, then proceed with discussions at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH), and decide and announce the timing of the adjustment to the indoor mask-wearing mandate."

The lifting of the indoor mask-wearing mandate has become a foregone conclusion. The indicators presented by the quarantine authorities for discussing mandate adjustments are largely considered to have been met. The previously presented indicators are ▲ stabilization of patient occurrence ▲ reduction in severe cases and deaths ▲ stable medical response capacity ▲ immunity acquisition among high-risk groups, and if two of these four are met, the current indoor mask-wearing 'mandate' will be changed to a 'recommendation' after discussion. Once the mandate adjustment is made, in the first phase, places excluding medical institutions, pharmacies, infection-vulnerable facilities, and public transportation will switch to recommending indoor mask-wearing, and later, if the COVID-19 crisis level is downgraded or the legal infectious disease classification is adjusted (currently level 2 → level 4), mask-wearing will be recommended only when necessary as a daily quarantine rule.

The winter resurgence of COVID-19 has clearly shifted to a downward trend. The weekly new confirmed cases decreased for two consecutive weeks from an average of 65,530 per day in the fourth week of December last year (December 25?31) to 59,239 in the first week of January (January 1?7), and 42,937 in the second week (January 8?14). The occupancy rate of severe case beds remains below 40%, and the weekly fatality rate was 0.07% (as of the third week of December last year), below the initially presented criterion of 0.1%. Regarding immunity acquisition among high-risk groups, as of the 13th, the additional winter vaccination rate for those aged 60 and over (33.7%) did not meet the criterion of 50%, but infection-vulnerable facilities exceeded the criterion with 60.5%. The number of severe patients currently hospitalized was 499 the day before, dropping below 500 for the first time in four weeks since December 17 (468 patients).

While the benchmark indicators show stabilization, the domestic spread caused by arrivals from China, considered a major variable, is also being managed stably. It is evaluated that high-intensity quarantine measures, such as mandatory COVID-19 testing before and after entry, have succeeded in minimizing the inflow of infected individuals from China. Jeong Ki-seok, head of the COVID-19 Special Response Team and chair of the National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee, recently said, "Through preemptive measures in preparation for the significant easing of China's quarantine policies, we are minimizing infections among arrivals from China," adding, "These measures will be maintained temporarily until the epidemic within China subsides."

What remains is the timing of lifting the indoor mask mandate. Since face-to-face contact increases ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, it is a difficult decision to make easily. Although the prevailing view is that it will be postponed until after the holiday, the government has announced separate quarantine measures without social distancing during the holiday period, so a more bold decision cannot be ruled out. Park Hyang, head of the Quarantine General Division at the Central Accident Response Headquarters, explained, "After the expert meeting on the 17th, we will consider various conditions, including overseas situations, which were initially set as prerequisites for adjusting the indoor mask mandate," adding, "The decision will not be based solely on the forecast of epidemic spread during the Lunar New Year holiday but will include expert opinions and overall trends."