From December, Outdoor Masks Will Be Removed... Indoor Masks Maintained Until the End

Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19 (center), is listening to the presentation at the "Step-by-Step Recovery Implementation Plan Public Hearing" held on the 25th at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] Starting from the 1st of next month, as the country enters the 'gradual return to normal life (With Corona)' phase, it is expected that outdoor mask removal will be partially allowed from mid-December.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters of the Ministry of Health and Welfare held a 'COVID-19 Gradual Return to Normal Life Implementation Plan Public Hearing' at 2 p.m. on the 25th at the Korea Press Center, unveiling the government's strategy for promoting the return to normal life and announcing plans to lift outdoor mask mandates.

The government plans to implement phased easing of quarantine measures in three stages at six-week intervals. Phase 1 begins on November 1, Phase 2 on December 13, and Phase 3 on January 24 of next year.

The government is considering lifting the outdoor mask mandate during the intermediate stage of the return to normal life. The lifting of outdoor mask-wearing guidelines is under review starting from mid-December, the time of the Phase 2 revision.

In particular, overseas cases that have already entered the 'With Corona' phase allowed mask removal but experienced a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, so indoor mask-wearing will be maintained as a 'core rule' until the very end.

Currently, masks can be removed on walking trails and other places if a distance of more than 2 meters from others is maintained. However, due to the social atmosphere that masks must be worn everywhere, not many people recognize that it is acceptable to remove masks outdoors.

However, mask-wearing will still be necessary in outdoor gatherings where many people are present, and situation-specific guidelines are expected to be provided.

Professor Lee Jae-gap of Hallym University’s Department of Infectious Diseases said, "Looking at countries implementing With Corona, infections have surged due to mask removal," adding, "The public already knows that mask removal should be the very last quarantine rule to be lifted."

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