Korea dropping public transportation mask requirement from Monday

Social Affairs

Published: 15 Mar. 2023, 16:10 Updated: 16 Mar. 2023, 11:22

Korea dropping public transportation mask requirement from Monday

People won’t be required to wear masks on subways, buses and taxis starting next Monday. [YONHAP]

Starting Monday, masks won’t be required on public transportation in Korea.

Local health authorities on Wednesday said they were ready to finally lift one of the last-remaining Covid restrictions, allowing people to unmask on subways, taxis and buses.

It will be the first time in two years and five months that masks are not required on public transportation.

The government lifted the outdoor mask mandate last year and the indoor mask mandate earlier this year, with a few exceptions.

People will still have to wear masks in hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes, welfare centers for the disabled and mental health centers. Visitors to pharmacies within large supermarkets or subway stations, however, don’t have to wear masks.

In reaching the latest decision to allow people to go maskless on public transit, health officials explained to reporters on Wednesday that the number of daily new infections were on a downward trend, plus new coronavirus variants that could possibly lead to surges weren't being discovered.

According to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 11,899 people tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday nationwide. The weekly average as of Tuesday was 9,724.

Han Chang-seop, acting minister of the interior and safety, who’s a member of the government’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, mentioned in a Wednesday briefing that the daily average of new infections dropped 38 percent after the indoor mask mandate was partially lifted on Jan. 30.

Han stressed that fewer Covid patients were falling into critical or serious condition recently as well.

Other government officials explained that only a handful of countries globally require people to wear masks on mass transportation, such as Greece, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, Egypt and Taiwan.

In light of a recent survey that showed some 70 to 80 percent of the public were willing to continue wearing masks indoors voluntarily, even without a mandate, officials said they deemed it would be better to let people make their own decisions on whether to mask up.

Even without the mask mandate, Han stressed that masks were still “the most basic means” to protect oneself from the coronavirus, adding that they were strongly advised on public transportation during rush hour.

Lee So-hyun, 30, an office worker in southern Seoul, said she was going to keep her mask on for the time being.

“I don’t want to get sick,” said Lee. “Many of my colleagues are sick with a cold or Covid, and I don’t want to be infected by them by taking off my mask. So many people in Korea use public transportation, and I plan on being extra careful.”

Other than the mask mandate at high-risk facilities, such as hospitals and pharmacies, the lastly-remaining Covid restriction in Korea is the seven-day quarantine for people who test positive for the virus.

Local authorities said they would consider making changes to those policies after monitoring the discussions at the World Health Organization on whether to end the global health emergency declaration for Covid, which is set to take place in April or May.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]