[앵커]
Corona 19 patients are continuing the increase again, recording the highest number in 13 weeks as of Monday.
The quarantine authorities, who decided to decide by the end of the year when to lift the indoor mask duty, are deepening their concerns.
Reporter Ki Jeong-hoon reports.
[기자]
As of 0:00, there were about 25,000 new corona19 patients.
As of Monday, it’s the most in 13 weeks.
The number of severely ill patients is also showing no signs of decreasing, keeping the 400 level for close to a month.
As the increase continues, the issue of easing the indoor mask duty is becoming a ‘hot potato’ for the quarantine authorities.
Seeing the number of patients increase, it is difficult to solve it in a hurry, but it is also difficult to continue forcing it.
Local governments such as Daejeon and Chungnam are coming forward to solve it, and the same is true when looking at foreign cases.
Most of the OECD countries have lifted the indoor mask obligation, except for hospitals and social welfare facilities.
Even in Taiwan, which lifted the outdoor mask obligation later than other countries, it is not compulsory in private workplaces.
Officially, Egypt, which maintains indoor and outdoor mask obligations, has not cracked down at all, so it is virtually no different from loosening it.
In 10 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, and Hungary, there is no obligation to wear a mask at all.
The government thinks the release date is between January and March next year.
It is a plan to set the criteria and timing for release while looking at the trend of the epidemic and the rate of bivalent vaccination, so there is a possibility that it will be slightly delayed if the increase continues.
Experts emphasize that even if most indoor mask obligations are lifted, facilities with high risk of infection should continue to wear masks.
[정재훈 / 가천의대 교수 : 실내마스크 의무가 해제된다고 하더라도, 모든 시설에서 완전히 해제된다는 의미는 아니고요. 의료시설이라든지 사회복지시설, 대중교통 같은 곳들에서는 마스크 착용 의무가 법적인 의무로 여전히 존재할 가능성이 매우 높습니다.]
While the government has decided to finalize the standards for releasing masks indoors during this month, the first debate to discuss the standards will be held this Thursday.
This is YTN Ki Jeong-hoon.
YTN Gi Jeong-hoon ([email protected])
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