Online Sales of Self-Test Kits Resume Starting Today

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] From today, online purchase of COVID-19 self-test kits will be possible again.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 1st, the distribution improvement measures for self-test kits, which had been implemented since February due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be fully lifted from today. The Ministry explained that this was because the distribution and supply of COVID-19 self-test kits were judged to have stabilized.

Accordingly, the previous restriction that allowed self-test kits to be purchased only at pharmacies and convenience stores will be removed, and from today, self-test kits can also be purchased online. Related regulations such as sales quantity limits and price designation, which were implemented together, had been gradually lifted or eased in accordance with improvements in distribution and supply conditions. As the situation has fully normalized, the distribution and supply chain restrictions, which were the last to remain, have been completely lifted, resulting in the full removal of the distribution improvement measures.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety evaluated, "During the distribution improvement period, the production and supply capacity of self-test kits was sufficiently expanded," adding, "Approximately 100 million self-test kits were supplied to the private sector such as pharmacies and convenience stores, and about 170 million kits were supplied to the public sector including central government ministries and local governments."

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