South Korea joins Singapore, most of rest of world, in scrapping indoor mask mandate

South Korean PM Han Duk-soo said the lifting of face-covering rules will take effect on January 30, except on transport and in medical facilities
Singapore lifted its own indoor mask mandate in August. Japan never imposed one and no longer advises people to wear masks outdoors. And Hong Kong?

South Korea

Agencies

Published: 11:04am, 20 Jan 2023

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South Korea will drop its mask mandate for most indoor venues, as one of the last Asian countries to require coverings pivots to living with Covid-19.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Friday that the lifting of face-covering rules will take effect on January 30, though a number of places will still require masks including care homes and hospitals, as well as on public transport.

“The daily number of new infections is continuing to decline and despite concerns over a spike in cases in China, the situation here is under control without major troubles,” the prime minister said during a Covid response meeting.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Friday that the country plans to lift its mask mandate from January 30. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

South Korea’s mask mandate had been in place since November 2020.

Elsewhere in the region, Singapore lifted its own indoor mask mandate in August last year, after first shedding outdoor masking from April as it transitioned to living with Covid-19.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday that the government was considering downgrading Covid-19 to a less serious infectious disease and relaxing its guidance that people wear masks indoors. The Japanese public was advised in May that face coverings were not needed outside if social distancing. Japan never imposed a mandate.

Hong Kong, meanwhile, has made the wearing of masks mandatory – both indoors and outdoors – since July 2020, with police officers issuing HK$5,000 (US$639) on-the-spot fines to people who fail to comply. City officials said this week that they would stick with the mask mandate during winter. Though they are considering end the policy in March or April, according to reports.

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In South Korea, authorities said they had determined that the country’s current Covid wave had peaked, based on the death rate and the number of critical patients.

Nearly 98.6 per cent of South Koreans are estimated to have virus antibodies, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, which added that measures targeting visitors from China meant there will be only a limited impact from that nation’s current surge in infections.

South Korea has ordered Covid-19 tests for travellers arriving from China after Beijing abandoned its strict antivirus regime of mass lockdowns in an abrupt U-turn on its zero-Covid policy.

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More countries are rolling back pandemic policies as the world shifts to treating Covid as endemic, though Asia has remained a notable holdout for mask policies.

South Korea ended its outdoor mask mandate in September last year, but remained wary about indoor activities due to a virus resurgence during the winter. The number of daily Covid cases has dropped below 30,000 from more than 150,000 in August, with the death rate per 100,000 people at around 0.1, according to official figures.

Friday’s announcement comes exactly three years after South Korea reported its first outbreak of Covid infection on January 20, 2020 and as it is set to mark the Lunar New Year holiday during which many South Koreans return to their hometowns.

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The easing of mask rules coupled with the coming holidays could result in a temporary surge in new cases, Prime Minister Han warned, urging health authorities to stay vigilant especially for those more vulnerable to infection.

South Korea has scrapped most of its pandemic-related precautions, but it maintains a seven-day isolation rule for those testing positive for Covid-19.

Reporting by Reuters, Bloomberg, SCMP reporter