Increasing Public Mask Supply to 80%... Selling 2 Masks per Week and Setting Maximum Price (Update)

Government Manages 100% of Mask Production to Distribution
Pharmacies Sell 2 Masks per Person... 5-Day Sales System by Birth Year Starts on 9th
Maximum Price Also Set Under Price Stabilization Act

On the 4th, residents are lining up in front of a pharmacy in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, receiving numbered tickets to purchase masks as the government is considering a plan to sell masks exclusively at pharmacies. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyun-jung] The government will increase the "public supply" of masks, whose distribution process it directly manages, to up to 80% of daily production. Exports will be banned to ensure that all produced masks are consumed domestically, while a pharmacy sales history system will be used to prevent duplicate purchases and supply two masks per person per week. To minimize household burdens, the government will also set the maximum price for masks. Along with this, through facility support and related regulatory relaxations, the current daily production volume of 10 million masks will be expanded to 14 million.

On the 5th, the government announced the "Mask Supply Stabilization Measures" containing these details. This measure comes as mask demand surged due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) outbreak, and despite the government's emergency measure last month to sell 50% of daily production as public supply, supply and demand have not yet stabilized.

The government's key principle in this measure is "fair distribution." To this end, the government will fully manage 100% of all processes from mask production to distribution and allocation.

Exports overseas are basically prohibited. The current mandatory public supply ratio of masks, which is 50%, will be increased to 80%, and masks will be sold at public sales outlets such as pharmacies, NongHyup (National Agricultural Cooperative Federation), and post offices. Considering market demand, the private distribution network will be maintained at 20%, but large-scale transactions will be strictly controlled through prior approval. Anyone trading more than 3,000 masks per day must report it, and transactions exceeding 10,000 masks require approval. Based on the Price Stabilization Act, the maximum price will also be designated to reduce household burdens. Public supply will be secured through bulk contracts by the Public Procurement Service.

Additionally, to ensure that more people have fair purchasing opportunities, the government established "three major purchasing principles." ▲ From the 9th, pharmacies will sell two masks per person (weekly purchase limit from Monday to Sunday), ▲ starting the same day, a five-day rotational system based on birth year will be implemented, and ▲ from the 6th, pharmacies will verify buyers' IDs and register sales in the sales history system to block duplicate purchases. For the five-day rotational system, people whose birth year ends with 1 or 6 can purchase on Monday, 2 or 7 on Tuesday, 3 or 8 on Wednesday, 4 or 9 on Thursday, and 5 or 0 on Friday. Saturdays and Sundays are reserved for those who did not purchase masks during the weekdays. The duplicate purchase verification system will be implemented only at pharmacies starting on the 6th and, after a preparation period, will be integrated and operated at NongHyup and post offices as well.

Purchases at pharmacies must be made by presenting an official ID such as a resident registration card. Minors can purchase by presenting their passport themselves or by having a legal guardian present their ID along with a resident registration certificate.

Policy-related mask supplies for medical, quarantine, safety, and education purposes will be prioritized.

Along with this, the government plans to increase production by improving the utilization of existing facilities, supporting manpower and transportation, securing raw materials, and improving related systems. The goal is to increase the current daily production volume of 10 million masks to 14 million within the next month.

Furthermore, the government recommended reusing masks that have not been clearly contaminated after drying, and stated that cloth masks can be used if medical masks are unavailable.

Meanwhile, the government's current measures will be in effect until June 30 of this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.