A man wears a mask around his neck in Seoul on Sept. 22, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — More than half of all South Koreans now believe it is unnecessary to wear masks indoors, a poll showed Thursday.
A research team from Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Health conducted a survey of 1,000 South Korean men and women, in which 55 percent believed that the indoor mask mandates can now be repealed.
Another 41.8 percent said otherwise.
At 64.6 percent, a majority of those in their 20s and 30s believed that the indoor mask rules can now be lifted, while 56.6 percent of those in their 40s and 50s and 49.2 percent of those in their 60s or above said likewise.
Among those who had been infected with COVID-19, 60.3 percent wanted the indoor mask rules to be lifted, compared to 54.3 percent of those who had not been infected with the disease.
Among those who thought that they had some health issues, however, only 38 percent believed it’s okay to take off masks indoors.
A majority of those who thought they were either ‘more or less healthy’ (61.7 percent) or ‘very healthy’ (54.2 percent) believed that the indoor mask rules can now be lifted.
Among the 439 respondents who said the indoor mask rules should be partially lifted, 45.8 percent were worried about the resurgence of the pandemic, followed by the consequences of lifting the mask rules on vulnerable groups (28.1 percent) and the impact on future generations, including the language and behavioral development of children (11 percent).
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
