SEOUL, July 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The government will adjust the COVID-19 pandemic’s infection classification level to the lowest Class 4 next month from Class 2 and fully lift the remaining mask mandate across the country, government officials said Sunday. The government is expected to classify COVID-19 as an endemic disease, like influenza and hand, [...]
SEOUL, July 4 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea, which had maintained its rigid COVID-19 restrictions long after most countries eased pandemic measures, appears to have lifted its mask mandate this month, state media footage and photos showed Tuesday. News footage that aired on the North’s Korean Central TV on Monday showed hundreds of young people [...]
SEOUL, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) – The government’s decision to lift the mask mandate on public transportation and pharmacies in open public spaces will go into effect this week amid a gradual COVID-19 virus downtrend. The removal of the mask mandate on public transportation, including subways, buses, taxis and planes, Monday comes 2 1/2 years [...]
SEOUL, March 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will end the mask mandate for public transportation next week, the government announced Wednesday, lifting one of the last-remaining COVID-19 restrictions amid a stable virus situation. Vice Interior Minister Han Chang-seob said during a government COVID-19 response meeting that the lifting will go into effect Monday. The [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of consumers looking for cosmetics and perfumes is increasing rapidly as the government eased indoor mask-wearing restrictions. Fashion shopping platform ZigZag reported a 67 percent jump in lipstick sales between Jan. 20-30 compared to December 2022. Sales of lip balms and lip tints jumped by 23 percent [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Most people in cafes, offices and schools in South Korea kept wearing their face masks Monday, the first day of the lifting of a mandate for indoor places. Starting midnight, the government lifted most mandatory indoor mask-wearing rules after more than two years, except at hospitals, pharmacies and on [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday that South Korea plans to lift the mask mandate for most indoor spaces from Jan. 30, dropping its last remaining pandemic restriction as the daily caseload continues to decline. The policy will, however, remain in place at hospitals, pharmacies and public transportation. The [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Close to half of all South Koreans intend to keep their masks on indoors even after the indoor mask mandate is lifted, a survey showed Monday. Real Research Korea conducted a survey of 3,800 South Korean men and women, 44.6 percent of whom intended to keep their masks on even [...]
SEOUL, May 17 (Korea Bizwire) – While fewer people now think that COVID-19 poses a risk to individuals and society, lifting the outdoor mask mandate is still seen as an premature decision, a poll showed Monday. A research team led by Prof. Yoo Myung-soon of Seoul National University’s graduate school of public health conducted a [...]
SEOUL, May 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Small businesses have seen rising sales after the government has lifted the outdoor mask mandate, data showed Thursday. Fintech firm Korea Credit Data reported that small merchants saw their average sales rise by 7.3 percent in the first week after outdoor mask rules were lifted (May 2 to 8), [...]