[Corona Behind] Do you want to take off your mask?

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※ 'Corona Behind' is a report by Park Soo-jin, a reporter from the Life and Culture Department of SBS Press Headquarters, who is running at the forefront of COVID-19 coverage.

Once a week, reporters Park's articles and thoughts that were not included in the article are released to readers.

[Editor's Note]

Last Friday, I went to Yeonnam-dong, Seoul to ask this question.

It was the day the government announced that it would lift the duty to wear an outdoor mask from May 2.

When a policy is announced, going out to the streets to ask what the citizens think is basic coverage. .

(Related article▶ You can take off the outdoor mask in 'At such a time'… Citizens have mixed reactions)

If you look at the broadcast news, you can see a reporter directly appearing in the report and commenting a word or two.

Mainly, it is the main element of a broadcast article that is judged to be the most important among the content of the article or is used to vividly convey the relevant site. This is called 'stand up' or 'standing'.

The stand-up sentence I prepared today was as follows.

In order to show that the standards for wearing masks now and in the future are different in public outdoor places such as 'Yeontral Park', which are crowded even on weekday afternoons, we decided to start wearing a mask and take it off and finish it.

I didn't know when I was preparing, but when the filming started, why was it so awkward?

It's been a really long time since I took my mask off in front of the camera.

It was only then that I realized that I hardly wore makeup that day.

'Ah, the mask was very comfortable...

' I thought and patted the foundation fact on my face in a hurry, but seeing the result, it was of no use.

In the meantime, I wasn't even a 'magic trickster (mask cheater)', but I realized that I had quite a lot of freedom (?) behind the mask.

I also learned a lesson that I should take care of my cosmetics again.

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'Safety' and 'constraint' and 'freedom' given by the mask

There is a common assessment of masks.

.

Masks have given us safety during the Corona pandemic for more than two years.

Although it cannot be seen as a fundamental preventive measure, if the mask is worn correctly, the chances of infection are greatly reduced even if you are in the same situation as someone who is not wearing a mask.

In a recent cough situation experiment by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the protective effect of surgical masks increased from 7.5% to 65% when properly used in close contact with the face.

Another study found that when N95 masks were worn close to the face and worn correctly, the protection was up to 95%.

The reason for worrying about whether to take off the mask is not because we doubt the 'safety' and 'protection' effects.

Still, the reason why I am debating whether to take off the mask or not.

I was able to find the answer in an interview with a citizen.

We started wearing masks in January 2020.

It was a time when there were no punishment regulations such as paying a fine for not wearing a mask, but it was a time when people were so afraid that they did not hesitate to stand in line all night to get a mask.

Even now, my memory is hazy, but there was a period of 'mask riot' when the supply and demand of masks was unstable and it was impossible to purchase them even if they paid double the money. There have been times when it was limited to purchasing only two masks per week.

It was from this time that masks began to constrain our daily lives.

Starting with Daegu, local governments such as Gyeonggi and Seoul followed administrative orders to make it mandatory to wear masks indoors and outdoors.

From April 2021, regardless of the social distancing stage, wearing a mask will be compulsory indoors and outdoors where 2m distance is not maintained.

At first, it seems that the inconvenience of having to cover the mouth and nose was great, but two years seems to be enough time to change the discomfort into familiarity.

In my case, I think I liked the 'freedom' of going out without makeup and being able to meet people comfortably.

In retrospect, sometimes there was also the ease of interviewing.

There are a lot of people who are reluctant to interview in front of the camera, but there were also reporters who responded without any additional 'anonymity processing (mosaic, voice change)' saying, 'It's okay because I'm wearing a mask'.

I remember the words of a college student in my 20s who I heard while interviewing citizens, "Now that I take off my mask outside, it feels like I'm taking off my clothes."

During the interview, I thought for a while (not related to the coverage), 'Does humans feel free from restraint?

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Controversy over 'outdoor mask removal' held inside and outside the government for two weeks

The process of the government's decision to 'remove outdoor masks' was quite intense internal discussion.

April 15, two weeks ago.

While the government has completely lifted social distancing, it has suspended the lifting of the mandatory outdoor mask wear.

He said that he would keep an eye on the fashion situation and would think about it for two more weeks before making a decision.

The decrease in the epidemic is because the number of confirmed cases, which still amount to tens of thousands (about 160,000 daily average cases as of April 15), was a burden.

The real discussion started last week.

As a result of the SBS health and medical team coverage, two proposals were proposed at the closed internal meeting of the quarantine authorities held at the beginning of the week.

One plan was to wait two more weeks, and two plans were to set separate rules for some spaces that had to be worn, although it would be lifted from May.

After investigating, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was more cautious.

It was said that the opinion was that it was necessary to observe the situation a little more as it had not been long since the recent quarantine measures such as lifting distance and allowing eating indoors were taken.

Instead, there was an opinion that we should make exceptions for some situations in which people feel uncomfortable, such as walking, exercising, and outdoor activities with family members living together.

The second proposal, which will be lifted from May, is a story inside and outside the quarantine authorities that the opinions of the Blue House and the Ministry of Welfare are more reflected.

The main reason for judging was that the trend was continuously decreasing.

However, it was said that the opinion was to make an exception to keep wearing a mask even outdoors in high-risk groups, people with symptoms, or in crowded places such as gatherings and events.

In general, the process of gathering opinions is to coordinate opinions within the government and to receive private advice through the Daily Recovery Support Committee, but there was another variable in this 'decision to remove the outdoor mask'.

That's the acquisition committee.

On Wednesday (April 27), when the quarantine authorities were in the midst of discussions with the quarantine authorities, the Transition Committee took the position that "the release of outdoor masks should be in late May" and that it should be watched more.

The quarantine authorities explained that they would actively review the opinion of the transition committee, but it seems that the opinion of the transition committee was not reflected significantly at the quarantine strategy meeting presided over by the Prime Minister's Office the next day.

According to a government official, there were a total of three proposals from the quarantine authorities at the quarantine strategy meeting that day. ▲Proposition 1 was 'removal of outdoor masks and recommended wearing of some facilities' ▲Plan 2 was 'Removal of outdoor masks, obligatory use of some facilities' ▲Project 3 was '2 It was a week extension.

A government official said, "I made the final draft by mixing the first and second plans."

The new policy, “The wearing of outdoor masks is lifted, but the obligation remains at gatherings or performances of more than 50 people.” The new policy was decided through this process and will be applied from tomorrow (2nd).

When asked about the reason why the transition committee's opinion was not reflected, the official explained, "If specific grounds or standards were presented in the transition committee's story that it should be delayed until the end of May, we would have accepted and reviewed it, but there was no such thing."

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A 'mask' that looks somehow...

"If you take off 60-70% of the people around you"

The SBS health care team asked citizens of different ages at various sites for their thoughts on the two weeks before the government decided to lift outdoor masks.

In the meantime, as the government's position has changed from 'cautious' to 'decision to release' for two weeks, we observed whether citizens' thoughts change with the trend of declining trends.

Since I did not ask the same question multiple times on the same subject, the accuracy of my observations is not precise, but I did not detect a large change in public opinion.

There are still mixed opinions of pros, cons, and concerns, but the most impressive thing is that there were not a lot of opinions 'I'll see what others are doing'.

A service industry worker I met in Yeonnam-dong, Seoul said, "It's very welcome, but there are some things I'm worried about. I have rhinitis, so when I wear a mask, my nose gets stuffy and I get headaches.

"

Then, when I asked if I thought I would be able to take it off, I said,

said.

I asked the sanitation agency what about outdoor workers who spend a lot of time outside.

I thought that people who work all day wearing masks would want to take them off, but the answer was unexpected.

Of course, there were those who welcomed it positively, saying, "It's already too late", and I heard from people who actively opposed it, saying, "I don't think the number of confirmed cases has decreased significantly."

They had something in common.

Regarding 'indoor wear', both sides said 'it is still too early'.

Most of the major countries, including the US, UK and France, have already lifted their outdoor mask obligations.

Quarantine authorities analyzed these countries and explained that there was no significant increase in the epidemic even after the mandatory wearing of outdoor masks was lifted.

A research team at UCLA University in the United States also published a study that the outdoor infection rate is up to 18.7 times lower than indoors, and a European joint research team also concluded that the effectiveness of outdoor masks in preventing infection was insignificant.

(Related article▶ “Unscientific” to each other about removing the mask…I looked at the actual effect)

Science is saying this, but what about the acceptability of Korean society?

Are you going to take off your mask outdoors from tomorrow?

(Reporter: Park Soo-jin, PD: Kim Do-kyun, Illustration: Kim Jeong-yeon, Producer: D Content Planning Department)