Mapo-gu Deploys Support Staff for 'One-Person Pharmacy' Public Mask Sales

Emergency support of 27 staff provided to 11 'single-pharmacist' pharmacies struggling to meet demand for public mask purchases... Assistance with verifying duplicate purchase history and distributing waiting number tickets

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Mapo-gu (District Mayor Yudonggyun) will deploy sales support personnel to pharmacies selling public masks within the district starting from the 10th to ensure the smooth supply of public masks amid COVID-19.

Since the 9th, the 'Mask 5-Day System' has been implemented, allowing each person to purchase 2 masks based on their birth year.

Accordingly, the district anticipated that a surge in demand for public masks at pharmacies could disrupt mask sales operations. Therefore, 27 sales support personnel have been urgently assigned to 11 local pharmacies operated by a single pharmacist, working in shifts.

The support personnel, one per pharmacy, assist with sales by verifying duplicate purchases using buyers' identification information, registering purchase histories, and distributing waiting number tickets.

On the first day of support personnel deployment, the pharmacy in Sangam-dong had a queue of office workers and residents waiting to purchase masks before the noon sales time, using their lunch breaks.

Within less than an hour after mask sales began, the 250 public masks stocked that day at the pharmacy were sold out, and even after sales ended, many residents continued to visit the pharmacy inquiring about purchasing public masks.

The pharmacist who operated the pharmacy with the support personnel said, "Since many people wanted to buy masks, it was difficult to manage alone, and I had to ask acquaintances for help, so the district's personnel support was very helpful."

Yudonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, "This is a difficult time that can be called a mask crisis, and it is the same situation for sellers as well," adding, "We will appropriately respond by adjusting the number and operation period of sales support personnel according to the spread of COVID-19."

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