<Reporter Park Jae-Hyun>
A mask that meets the corona protection standards must have a droplet blocking function with the nose and mouth covered as I am wearing now.
However, this plastic mouthpiece, which is mainly used in restaurants, does not have any virus protection function and is now subject to fines.
However, it is a problem that some local governments are distributing this mouth cover to the in-house restaurant, saying that it is used for corona prevention.
We interviewed on-site how this happened.
Lunch break, a restaurant in Gimpo-si, a busy Gyeonggi-do.
Looking inside the kitchen, the cook wore a plastic mouth cover, not a mask.
The word'Gimpo City' is clear on the cover of the mouth.
You can see this in various places in Gimpo restaurants.
[Restaurant Owner: What I saw was that a woman in her 60s was using and serving it, and a man in her 50s was cooking.
You shouldn't use that...
.]
These plastic mouth covers were distributed by the city of Gimpo to over 4,000 restaurants in the building.
[Restaurant owner: He said it came from the city hall and gave me two official letters and two mouth covers.
(I think it's okay to use it because it is written in Gimpo City.)] The
government enforced the mandatory wearing of masks on the 13th of last month and nailed so-called cosque, tuxedo, and plastic mouth covers to crackdowns.
[Seoul Corona Inspection Team (last October): Everyone in the kitchen is not wearing a mask right now.]
[Restaurant Owner: Everyone is wearing a plastic mask.]
[Seoul Corona Inspection Team: How will you prevent corona with that?
It has nothing to do with Corona.
It's not a mask.]
Despite this, Gimpo City distributed a mouth cover even after the 13th, when it began to impose fines after a one-month trial period.
[Restaurant owner: (Do you remember how many days (the date the city hall gave you the cover)?) (November) It's the 17th.
I guessed it earlier.] When
confused restaurant owners inquired about it, I got an absurd answer.
[Restaurant owner-Gimpo City Hall employee transcript: (Isn't this a transparent mask, it's because the nose is open?) Teacher That doesn't work.
(But why share it?) (Corona) When the upgrade is released, you can use it as a kitchen mask.
(Isn't it still subject to crackdown? Is it possible to use the first step?) No.
It is impossible.]
Distribute it for quarantine and do not use it until the corona is over.
Gimpo was not the only one like this.
Since August of this year, there are eight local governments nationwide that have distributed or tried to distribute their mouth covers as quarantine items for four months.
Gimpo city alone spent 70 million won, and other local governments also spent hundreds to tens of millions of won.
[Restaurant restaurant owner: I tried it because it was good.
Block it, what do you do, that.
Give money to make it, and give it to each restaurant with the money...
.]
This absurd thing stems from policy confusion.
In June, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, while devising a plan to improve the restaurant culture suitable for the coronavirus era, recognized that wearing a transparent mouth cover was also observed as compliance with quarantine regulations.
Although the quarantine standards have been strengthened several times due to the spread of the corona since then, some local governments have included the cover of the mouth as the first instructions received.
[Officials from other local governments: At that time, I paid them, but they are all being inspected now.
I can't use it.] The
situation where the local government, responsible for the inspection of the restaurant's quarantine, handed out items that violate the quarantine.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food has decided to re-issue instructions to local governments across the country not to use plastic mouth covers in restaurants.
(Video coverage: Gong Jin-gu and Seo Jin-ho, Video editing: Lee So-young, CG: Seo Seung-hyun)