One Week of Mask 5-Day Rotation, 19.13 Million People Purchased Masks

On the 15th, when the public mask 5-day rotation system is in effect, citizens are lining up in front of a pharmacy in Mapo-gu, Seoul to purchase masks. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 16th that 19.13 million people purchased masks through public sales outlets during the week following the implementation of the 5-day mask purchase system starting from the 9th.

During this period, a total of 48.472 million masks were supplied through public sales outlets such as pharmacies. After the government took emergency supply and demand adjustment measures for masks last month, setting the public supply volume at 50% of domestic production, the supply increased further with the implementation of the 5-day system on the 9th. Approximately 33.41 million masks were supplied to public sales outlets in the first week of this month, which is more than 15 million masks increase compared to that.

At a briefing on the same day, Lee Eui-kyung, Commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, said, "Before the implementation of the 5-day system, about 100 masks were supplied per pharmacy, but after the implementation, the supply increased to 250 masks per pharmacy, allowing 125 people to purchase two masks each without overlap."

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, out of the approximately 48.47 million masks supplied last week, about 40.01 million were distributed to the general public through pharmacies, Hanaro Mart, post offices, etc., and about 6.545 million were supplied to medical institutions. Compared to the previous week, the supply to the general public increased by 13.28 million masks, and to medical institutions by about 2.28 million masks.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety also stated that they are discussing expanding the scope of proxy purchases. Currently, proxy purchases are allowed for those who find it difficult to visit pharmacies directly, such as children under 10, seniors over 80, and people with disabilities. However, there have been suggestions to allow proxy purchases for disabled veterans among national veterans, and a decision will be made after review with related departments.

Various support measures are being promoted by related ministries to increase domestic supply. While adjusting shipments of filters to ensure no disruption in production, the Public Procurement Service is providing price incentives for increased production. The Ministry of National Defense is supporting manpower and vehicles for packaging and transportation. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is expediting approval for raw material changes to allow manufacturers to switch production from KF94 to KF80 masks. According to the Ministry, the average daily mask production increased from about 3 million units last year to 6.59 million units at the end of January this year, and recently to 12.91 million units in the past week.

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