From Daejeon to Chungnam, "Reviewing Voluntary Mask Wearing"... Health Authorities Say "Premature"

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is considering making mask-wearing voluntary.

On the 5th, Chungnam Governor Kim Tae-heum ordered a review of a plan to leave mask-wearing to individual discretion at a meeting of department and bureau heads held at the Chungnam Provincial Office.

At the meeting, Governor Kim said, "I have doubts about how much mandatory indoor mask-wearing helps prevent COVID-19," adding, "It is preferable to leave mask-wearing to voluntary choice rather than making it mandatory."

He especially pointed out, "When I visited six countries including the United States and Europe on a business trip, masks were hardly worn in those countries, and indoor mask-wearing was not mandatory. Among OECD countries, South Korea is the only one maintaining mandatory indoor mask-wearing."

Governor Kim also emphasized, "I understand that children have had to endure several negative aspects during their development process while wearing masks for years," and "Now is the time to bring new changes to mask-wearing."

At the meeting, Governor Kim also ordered that after an internal review process regarding voluntary mask-wearing, the province’s position be conveyed to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 6th.

Prior to Chungnam, Daejeon City recently sent an official letter to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters stating that if the government does not lift the mandatory indoor mask-wearing measures, it will issue its own administrative order to implement voluntary mask-wearing.

Meanwhile, the government has expressed reluctance toward these moves by Daejeon and Chungnam. Jeong Ki-seok, head of the COVID-19 Special Response Team (also chairman of the National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee), expressed concern about some local governments such as Daejeon and Chungnam independently promoting voluntary indoor mask-wearing, stating, "Since confirmed cases and deaths could increase, caution is necessary," thereby putting the brakes on voluntary mask-wearing.

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