In a significant move to relax COVID-19 regulations, South Korea abolished the face mask requirement for the majority of indoor public spaces on Monday. However, many citizens continued to wear covers out of residual fears about infections.
The majority of indoor settings no longer require facial coverings, which is South Korea’s most recent move to relax COVID regulations as the number of new cases appears to be slowing. In places like hospitals and on public transportation, people must still wear the masks.
The majority of restaurant owners and patrons in Seoul’s crowded Gwanghwamun neighborhood, where offices for corporations and the government are situated, supported the new policy. As the epidemic is still ongoing, several residents have also stated that they will continue to wear masks.
Yoon Seok-jun, a 30-year-old office worker in Gwanghwamun, said, I’d thought it was kind of pointless we had to put the masks on merely to enter and exit a restaurant, so it’s wonderful that has changed now.
Kim Jae-jin, 28, also expressed his happiness at being able to exercise at a gym without donning a mask. But he insisted that he would keep covering up in most public places.
Kim, an office worker, stated, “Running on a treadmill would be much more comfortable, but I am still worried about a new lung ailment following COVID.”
Health officials in South Korea have cautioned that the relaxation of mask regulations could temporarily lead to an increase in new cases and urged people to exercise caution when in high-risk locations, especially for those who are more susceptible to illnesses.
Jeong Hye-won, a 28-year-old office worker from Seoul, said, COVID-19 isn’t over yet and it looks like masks do protect me from catching cold and other diseases, so I think I’ll wear them for the time being.
The limitations were loosened around three years after South Korea announced its first COVID virus outbreak on January 20, 2020.
The majority of the nation’s pandemic-related precautions have already been abandoned, although a seven-day isolation requirement for COVID-positive people is still in place.
