Jeong Gi-seok "COVID-19 Peak Has Passed... No Need to Wear Masks Without Overseas Factors"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byeon Seon-jin] As the decline in COVID-19 cases continues recently, the indoor mask-wearing mandate is expected to be adjusted soon. Jeong Gi-seok, head of the COVID-19 Special Response Team and member of the National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee, urged vaccination, stating, "If the indoor mask-wearing mandate is adjusted in the future, there is a high possibility of COVID-19 infections spreading, and high-risk groups will inevitably be exposed to greater risks."

At the COVID-19 regular briefing on the 16th, Jeong said, "Among approximately 14.2 million high-risk individuals, about 8.5 million have immunity. The remaining 40% do not have sufficient immunity." As of midnight that day, the vaccination rates were 33.9% for the elderly aged 65 and over, 28.9% for immunocompromised individuals, and 60.5% for users and workers of infection-vulnerable facilities.

Jeong also pointed out that vaccination rates are low compared to fatality rates in the 60-64 age group. He said, "While the vaccination rate for those aged 65 and over exceeds 40%, the vaccination rate for those aged 60-64 is about 19%, which is less than half of that for those 65 and older," and "the fatality rate for the 60-64 age group was between 0.03% and 0.07% in December last year, which is not low at all." Jeong added, "The central government and local governments should actively support encouraging booster vaccinations for high-risk groups, and also adopt exemplary cases from each local government to apply measures suited to regional characteristics."

The reason for encouraging vaccination among high-risk groups is that the indoor mask mandate is likely to be adjusted as the recent trend of the epidemic eases. According to health authorities, the number of confirmed cases over the past week (January 8-14) was 300,000, a 27% decrease compared to the previous week (410,000). Weekly deaths and critically ill patients also decreased by 11% and 17%, respectively. Jeong said, "the COVID-19 wave this winter has passed its peak and is now entering a stable phase," adding, "The four indicators set as criteria for lifting the indoor mask mandate have almost all been met."

However, the variable is overseas factors. Jeong explained, "If there are no overseas factors, the mask mandate can be lifted immediately," but added, "The safest approach in quarantine policy is usually the best, and it is important to protect even one more human life." He also said, "Japan recently has a confirmed case rate 1.5 times higher than ours per 100,000 people, and the US could see an increase in cases anytime due to XBB.1.5, so it is necessary to continuously monitor the situations in countries with many arrivals to Korea, not only China."

Since January 2, the government has applied high-intensity quarantine measures for travelers from China. The positivity rate among short-term foreign visitors arriving from China decreased from 20% in the first week of January to 9% last week. Jeong said, "Fortunately, the epidemic is also declining in countries like Japan and the US, which is expected to be a positive factor for Korea's future quarantine policy decisions."

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