[COVID-19 Mask Shortage] Direct Production and Releasing Stockpiles... Autonomous Districts Devise Desperate Measures

Nowon-gu Secures 1 Million Masks by Visiting Manufacturing Plants Nationwide
Seodaemun and Gangdong-gu Distribute Directly Produced Masks to Vulnerable Groups
Seocho-gu and Jungnang-gu Lend District-Owned Masks to Pharmacies

[Asia Economy Reporters Jong-il Park, Hye-sook Park, In-kyung Jo] As the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak caused a mask shortage, local governments and districts have been making every effort to secure their own supplies or provide alternative masks to ensure mask availability.

According to various districts in Seoul on the 12th, Nowon District Office staff visited mask manufacturing factories nationwide over the past month, including in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, Guro in Seoul, Busan, and Miryang in Gyeongnam, securing 1.1 million masks. Recently, these masks have been distributed free of charge to residents. Distribution is done through community centers in Nowon-gu, where neighborhood leaders deliver masks to each household.

Seodaemun District has about 30 residents, including volunteers, making cloth masks by hand. The goal is to produce 1,000 masks. Resident volunteers with sewing skills cut fabric to size, and volunteers with sewing machines sew them at home or in workshops. Gangdong District also plans to produce 2,000 handmade cloth masks this month with the Gangdong Saemaeul Women's Association and resident volunteers, which will be delivered to daycare centers and welfare facilities.

Seocho District distributed a total of 56,250 masks secured by the district to 225 local pharmacies, 250 masks each, in advance starting from the 9th, when the five-day rotation system for public masks was implemented. Pharmacies sell masks at fixed times daily to reduce confusion among residents, and the district lends masks for sale the next day in advance. Jungnang District also urgently supplied 16,600 masks from the district office’s stock to pharmacies as the mask supply shortage continued. Pharmacies will return the borrowed masks to the district office once the supply stabilizes.

Seoul City decided to support over 2,500 pharmacies facing labor shortages due to public mask sales by providing one short-term (3-hour) worker per pharmacy for 14 days. With this support, the time it takes for one pharmacy to sell the allocated 250 public masks is expected to decrease from an average of 150 minutes to 60 minutes.

Incheon City launched a campaign encouraging public officials to wear cloth masks. Although the government is working to expand supply, there are limits to meeting the rapidly increased demand in a short period, and experts have stated that general cloth masks can also block the COVID-19 virus transmitted through droplets (such as saliva).

A city official said, "In a situation where citizens’ anxiety is high, public officials agreed to take the lead so that children, the elderly, and high-risk citizens with underlying conditions can purchase health masks smoothly," adding, "General office workers, excluding high-risk groups and health field workers, are wearing cloth masks."

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