Discussion on Mask Removal Starting Today... "Can Take Off Immediately" vs "Need to Watch China"

[Asia Economy Reporter Byun Seon-jin] This winter, the COVID-19 outbreak has entered a stable and declining phase. The quarantine authorities judge that, based on the domestic situation, indoor mask-wearing can be shifted from mandatory to recommended. However, since public health and safety are the top priorities, they plan to monitor overseas situations a bit longer.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Domestic COVID-19 Situation Stabilizes: "It Will Take a Long Time Until the Outbreak Ends"

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 17th, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has decreased for three consecutive weeks since the third week of December (18?24). In the second week of January (8?14), confirmed cases were 300,563, a 27% decrease compared to the previous week (January 1?7; 414,614 cases). On the 16th, the daily confirmed cases were 14,144, the lowest in 91 days since October 17 last year (10,024 cases). As the number of confirmed cases decreased, weekly deaths and critically ill patients also dropped by 11% (from 400 to 356) and 17% (from 530 to 440), respectively. The intensive care unit bed occupancy rate is 35.3%, with 1,011 out of 1,563 beds available, indicating a stable situation.

Among the four indicators for the first phase of lifting indoor mask mandates, all except the vaccination rate of the elderly have been achieved. The quarantine authorities believe there are no longer domestic factors that could cause a resurgence of the outbreak this winter. However, the seventh wave that began around late October is expected to take a long time to end, unlike previous waves. If the peak was in the third week of December with nearly 80,000 daily cases, it will take a similar number of cases and duration to decline.

Jung Ki-seok, head of the COVID-19 Special Response Team and member of the National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee, said, "Among the 14.2 million high-risk individuals, 8.4 million have immunity, but the remaining 5.8 million do not. The outbreak will only end after a significant number of the non-immune high-risk group get infected," urging vaccination. As of midnight that day, vaccination rates were 33.9% for those aged 65 and older, 28.9% for immunocompromised individuals, and 60.5% for users and workers of infection-vulnerable facilities.

Discussion on Lifting Indoor Mask Mandate at Advisory Meeting on the 17th: "Safe to Lift at Any Point"

The National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee will discuss the timing of lifting the indoor mask mandate at 4 p.m. on the 17th. From a domestic perspective, the advisory committee believes it is safe to lift the mandate at any point, such as just before the Lunar New Year holiday, given the stable COVID-19 situation.

However, concerns remain about the importation of cases due to overseas COVID-19 outbreaks. The positivity rate of PCR tests immediately after entry for short-term foreign visitors from China was 8.8% on the 15th, hovering around 10% despite the requirement to submit a negative test certificate before entry starting on the 5th. Chairman Jung stated, "The positivity rate among short-term visitors from China must drop below 5%."

The outbreak situations in countries with significant domestic exchanges, such as Japan and the United States, are also considered. According to the global COVID-19 tracking site 'Our World in Data,' Japan recorded 8,181 cases per million population from December 26 to January 1, the second highest among nine major countries after South Korea (8,812 cases). The United States is a country where the highly immune-evasive XBB variant is rapidly becoming dominant; domestically, 17 cases (0.2%) have been detected since January 8 last month. However, Chairman Jung analyzed, "Since the outbreak situations in these countries are turning downward, this will positively influence our country's quarantine policy decisions."

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