마스크 공급 안정화...'1인당 3장' 허용, 해외 지원도 고려

People in South Korea are steadily going back to their pre-outbreak daily lives and routines as the number of new COVID-19 cases in the country has sharply flattened out.
With the supply of protective face masks also having been stabilized,... the South Korean government is even considering sending face masks overseas for humanitarian support, but only in exceptional cases.
Kim Sung-min reports.
On the way to work or even just when heading to a nearby supermarket, wearing a face mask has become the new norm in South Korea.
Luckily, the mask supply in the country is now largely stable… and it is much easier to get hold of a mask than it was when the outbreak first started.
"Like a month ago, I used to line up for an hour or visit early in the morning to buy a mask, but now I can buy them whenever I want to … so I can tell the supply is quite steady now."
The steady supply has led the government to raise the weekly mask allowance from two to three.
"I feel more relieved because there are more masks now. Before, I sometimes had to wear the same mask for a week, but now I can use it less often."
Pharmacies that once used to have to turn away mask buyers are now handling the demand much more easily.
"This part of Gangnam is one of the most crowded places in South Korea, but it’s hard to find any long lines of people trying to get hold of masks here."
"When there was a serious shortage of masks, people just wanted any type of mask as long as they could buy some. But now with sufficient supply, demand for masks has become more specific. They even want a specific size and color."
With sufficient supply, the government has also announced that masks can be sent overseas in certain cases so long as domestic supplies remain stable.
One-million masks have been sent to Korean War veterans abroad and more options are being discussed.
Kim Sung-min, Arirang News