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| Lee Nak-yon, head of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's special committee to deal with COVID-19, speaks during a meeting with government and Cheong Wa Dae officials at the National Assembly, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap |
By Do Je-hae
The government said, Wednesday, it would take all possible measures to secure sufficient supply of masks for protection against COVID-19, amid soaring public anger over a shortage.
During a meeting at the National Assembly, Wednesday, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the government and Cheong Wa Dae discussed ways to improve the supply of masks as the epidemic shows no signs of easing.
"In reality, it is true that we are currently unable to keep up with the demand of more than 30 million masks per day," presidential policy chief Kim Sang-jo said at the meeting.
"We will take responsibility for the failure to quickly supply masks. We will increase production as much as possible and reduce speculative demand while securing the right amount for public distribution. These measures will help the people acquire masks more equitably."
They said mask manufacturers will be encouraged to work on weekends and mask exports will be restricted. They added they are devising measures to prevent mask hoarding and improve distribution channels so people won't have to queue for hours to buy a handful of masks.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun also said, in a meeting with reporters in Daegu, that the government would come up with an almost ration-like mask distribution solution.
One of the ways the government is considering is to include masks in the Drug Utilization Review (DUR), a system used at pharmacies to keep track of purchase records of prescribed drugs. Currently, non-prescription items such as masks are not subject to any system. If applied to masks, consumers would need to present their ID numbers before purchasing them at pharmacies, and a pharmacy would be able to check whether a customer has already bought their quota of masks at other pharmacies.
The adoption of the DUR system to masks has gained much public attention after it was suggested in a recent petition on Cheong Wa Dae's website by a pharmacist from North Gyeongsang Province.
During an interpellation session at the National Assembly, Tuesday, Finance Minister said that such a system will be ready within a few days.
The measures to deal with the mask shortage came after President Moon Jae-in ordered solutions to deal with it during a Cabinet meeting, Tuesday. Moon apologized for the mask situation which has caused grave inconveniences for the public. Headlines have been filled with stories of people lining up for hours to get masks. "We regret the public inconvenience from the failure to supply masks quickly and sufficiently," the President said.
"With the soaring number of confirmed cases and the rise in infections in communities, the supply has not been able to keep up with the increased demand. There are certainly difficulties in importing the masks. I urge the government to explain the situation to the people and urge their understanding and support."
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