"Wearing Masks Is the Most Effective Way to Prevent COVID-19 Infection"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the government is reportedly set to lift all social distancing measures except for mask-wearing starting next week, a survey conducted among the general public identified the 'mandatory mask-wearing' as the most effective measure in preventing COVID-19 infections.

Professor Yoo Myung-soon and her team at Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health announced the results of this COVID-19 public perception survey on the 15th. The survey was conducted online by the professional polling agency K-stat Research from the 8th to the 10th of this month, targeting 1,018 adults nationwide. The margin of error is ±3.07 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

The research team presented 10 administrative orders, including the mandatory mask-wearing order and social distancing measures, as options and asked respondents to select three measures they believed were the most cost-effective in order of priority.

As a result, the measure with the highest proportion of respondents ranking it within their top three was the 'mandatory mask-wearing administrative order,' reaching 85.9%. When comparing response distributions by age groups?20s to 30s, 40s to 50s, and 50 and above?the proportion of those who evaluated mask-wearing as effective increased with age.

Among social distancing measures, 'ban on gatherings at high-risk facilities such as entertainment venues (42.9%)', 'restrictions on the number of private gatherings (42.0%)', and 'operating hour restrictions for multi-use facilities such as restaurants and cafes (32.9%)' followed.

Conversely, the measures with the lowest inclusion rates in the top three were 'reduced operation of public transportation (6.8%)' and 'suspension of welfare and public facility operations (11.8%).'

Regarding the health authorities' response to COVID-19, 57.2% of respondents answered that they 'trust' the response, while 42.8% said they 'do not trust' it. The trust rate increased by 3.3 percentage points compared to the survey conducted from February 11 to 13 this year (53.9%).

Professor Yoo explained, "Although key social distancing measures such as restrictions on private gathering sizes, bans on gatherings at high-risk facilities, and operating hour restrictions were included among the top ranks, none showed as high a perception of effectiveness as the mask-wearing measures. This result allows us to gauge the significant meaning of measures related to individual citizens' practices, such as mask-wearing, in our society's COVID-19 response achievements."

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