Seoul City Provides 58,000 Masks to Caregivers for Elderly Care

On the 12th, residents are waiting to purchase masks 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 Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] On the 17th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will provide 58,000 masks to care workers who are taking care of elderly people with mobility difficulties to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Care workers provide close-contact care to the elderly, making them one of the priority groups to receive masks. However, they have recently faced difficulties purchasing masks due to nationwide shortages.

The city will prioritize distributing 48,000 masks to care facilities to prevent cluster infections among on-site care workers who realistically find it difficult to purchase public masks.

Seoul will first provide 30,000 KF94 masks received from the Seoul City Quarantine Supplies Headquarters, 8,000 masks from elderly welfare facilities that are temporarily closed, and 10,000 masks from the Food Bank. Subsequently, an additional 60,000 dental masks will be supplied to care facilities.

Home-visit care workers who visit households requiring care are also at risk of infection during transit or from the families of users. Therefore, 10,000 masks will be provided and distributed through the Elderly Care Worker Support Center and rest shelters.

The city plans to secure additional mask supplies in consultation with the government, considering the number of care facilities and care workers, and provide them sequentially.

Kang Byung-ho, Director of Welfare Policy at Seoul City, said, "We hope that this mask support will help care workers, who have been struggling due to the spread of COVID-19 and mask shortages, protect the health of both the elderly and care workers simultaneously."

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