9.5 Million Masks Supplied to Pharmacies Over the Weekend... 4 Million More Than Last Week

On the 12th, residents are seen reading a notice about mask purchases at a pharmacy in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, as Seoul's autonomous districts are implementing supplementary measures tailored to local conditions to reduce residents' inconvenience caused by the mask purchase 5-day rotation system. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that 9,505,000 masks will be supplied to pharmacies nationwide on the weekend of the 14th and 15th, the first weekend after the 'Mask 5-Day Rotation System'. This is about 4 million more than the supply of 5,565,000 masks last weekend.

In the metropolitan area, 2,802,000 masks will be supplied to pharmacies on the 14th and 795,000 on the 15th. In the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, about 843,000 masks will be distributed on the 14th and 140,000 on the 15th. Pharmacies in other regions will receive approximately 4,279,000 masks on the 14th and 646,000 on the 15th. By date, about 8,786,000 masks will be supplied nationwide on Saturday the 14th, and about 1,581,000 on Sunday the 15th. The 529,000 masks allocated for priority supply to medical institutions are included in the supply for the 14th.

During the weekend, masks can be purchased at pharmacies in Seoul and Gyeonggi areas, and at pharmacies and Hanaro Mart in other regions. Starting from this day, Hanaro Mart has implemented a duplicate purchase verification system, allowing purchases only if masks were not bought during the weekdays.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety explained, "Considering the demand from those who could not purchase masks during the weekdays, 10,360,000 masks will be supplied, which is more than the 5,755,000 supplied last weekend," and added, "Last weekend, 150 to 200 masks were supplied per pharmacy, but this weekend the supply has been increased considering population density and the number of infected people."

Per pharmacy, Seoul will receive 400 masks on Saturday and 250 on Sunday. Gwangju, Jeonnam, Jeonbuk, and Jeju will receive 250 masks (Saturday) and 200 masks (Sunday), while other regions will receive 350 masks (Saturday) and 200 masks (Sunday). Hanaro Mart will also increase its supply by more than 100,000 masks compared to last weekend, supplying 333,000 masks.

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