"Outdoor Mask Mandate Lift Decision on 29th... 'Reviewing Transition Team's Opinion' (Update)"

Transition Team's '100-Day Roadmap' Specifies D+30
Authorities "Plan to Make Initial Decision and Announce on the 29th"

On the 15th, office workers wearing masks are heading to work on Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The quarantine authorities are expected to decide around the 29th whether to lift the outdoor mask mandate.

On the 27th, Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, stated, "Regarding outdoor masks, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters will make a preliminary decision on how to adjust the policy this Friday (29th) and announce it."

On the other hand, the '100-Day Roadmap for COVID-19 Emergency Response' released by the Presidential Transition Committee on the same day specifies that the declaration to lift the outdoor mask mandate will occur within 30 days. Transition Committee Chair Ahn Cheol-soo said, "After assessing the situation to some extent, we will decide to remove outdoor masks around late May, while mandating indoor mask-wearing when entering buildings."

When asked whether there is a discrepancy between the schedules announced by the Transition Committee and the authorities regarding the (outdoor mask lifting), Son responded, "We believe the overall direction is not different," adding, "During the opinion-gathering process on the 29th, we will comprehensively review various opinions, including those presented by the Transition Committee."

The quarantine authorities emphasize that discussions about outdoor masks must consider not only scientific evidence but also social aspects. Scientifically, even if masks are removed outdoors, the possibility of infection transmission is significantly lower than indoors; however, declaring the lifting of outdoor mask mandates could cause confusion in the social message regarding quarantine measures.

Meanwhile, the 100-day roadmap announced by the Transition Committee includes ▲ the additional introduction of 1.01 million doses of COVID-19 therapeutics ▲ expansion of compensation for vaccine adverse reactions ▲ large-scale antibody prevalence surveys ▲ establishment of an infectious disease crisis response advisory body, among other measures.

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