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Sun, April 2, 2023 | 11:38
Editorial
Lifting of mask mandate
[사설 읽기] 마스크 착용 의무 해제
Posted : 2023-01-30 15:47
Updated : 2023-01-30 17:27
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Students wearing face masks attend a class at an elementary school in Seoul, Jan. 30. Yonhap
Students wearing face masks attend a class at an elementary school in Seoul, Jan. 30. Yonhap

Premature to let guard down fully
경계 태세를 모두 늦추기에는 아직 일러


Korea reported 9,277 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total caseload caseload to 30,008,756. The country broke the unwelcome record of 30 million three years and unwelcome three days after it reported its first confirmed case on Jan. 20, 2020.
월요일 신규 코로나19 확진자 수 9277건이 보고되어 한국 누적 확진자는 3천만 8756명이 되었다. 2020년 1월 20일 첫 확진자가 나온 지 3년 3일 만에 3천만 명이라는 반갑지 않은 기록을 깼다.


Considering there were about 5 million "unreported infections," some 70 percent reported of 51.6 million Koreans have likely been hit by the coronavirus. Add 28.5 percent who formed antibodies through vaccinations, and nearly 99 percent are antibodies immune to the immune to virus — for now. Can the nation move past COVID-19, then?
‘신고되지 않은 감염'이 5백만 명 가량 있는 점을 감안하면 한국인 5천160만 명 중 70%가 코로나19에 감염되었을 가능성이 높다. 백신 접종을 통해 항체를 형성한 28.5%를 더하면 현재 거의 99%가 바이러스에 면역이 된 상태다. 그렇다면 한국은 코로나19를 지나칠 수 있나?


Probably not.
아닐 듯하다.


Reflecting the eased situation, health authorities will lift the indoor mask mandate next Monday, freeing people from face coverings except in some places, such as medical institutions and mass transit.
완화된 현재 상황을 반영해 보건당국은 의료기관과 대중교통 등 일부 장소를 제외 하고는 실내 마스크 착용 의무를 다음주 월요일 해제해 마스크에서 시민들을 해방할 예정이다.


However, the nation should not let its guard down yet, at least for two reasons.
그러나 적어도 두 가지 이유 때문에 한국은 아직 경계를 늦추지 말아야 한다.


First, the statistics themselves are hardly reassuring. Given the population gap of about six times with the U.S., Korea is still seeing more daily infections than even the U.S., where health officials "seem to have given up on new cases," as some Korean experts put it. The daily deaths seldom fall below 30 and are also hardly negligible. These numbers would make headlines every day if they were caused by accidents, like car crashes or fires.
첫째, 통계 결과는 아직 안심되는 수준이 아니다. 인구가 한국보다 약 6배 더 많은 점을 감안할 때 일부 한국인 전문가들이 정부가 "신규 확진자 관리를 포기한 것 같다" 고 말하는 미국보다 한국의 일일 확진자 수가 여전히 더 많다. 일일 사망자는 30명 이 하로 잘 떨어지지 않아 무시할 수 없는 수준이다. 이러한 통계 수치가 교통 사고나 화 재와 같은 사고로 발생했다면 매일 1면을 장식할 것이다.


Second, there is China, the origin of the pandemic, which has yet to see its peak due to excessive lockdowns followed by an abrupt opening up. Korean — and global — experts are now nervously watching the situation in China, where explosive infections move from metropolises to provinces and possibly overseas like they did three years ago. Given that there could be more than 100 subvariants of the Omicron variant, the appearance of new lethal strains will be a nightmare for the whole world.
둘째, 과도한 봉쇄와 급격한 개방으로 아직 정점을 찍지 못한 팬데믹의 발원지 중 국이 있다. 3년 전처럼 폭발적인 전파가 대도시에서 지방으로, 어쩌면 해외로 옮겨가 는 중국의 상황을 한국을 포함한 세계 전문가들은 초조하게 바라보고 있다. 오미크론 변이의 하위 변이가 100개 이상 있을 수 있다는 점을 감안할 때 또 다른 치명적인 변이의 출현은 전 세계에 악몽이 될 것이다.


In retrospect, Korea has done relatively well fighting against the worst pandemic in a century. Besides their failures to close the border on Chinese arrivals right after its outbreak, health officials effectively controlled COVID-19 with their "3-T strategy" of testing, tracing and treating. As always, however, the Korean people, who have seldom complained about one of the longest mask mandates worldwide and endured other conveniences, deserve greater credit.
돌이켜 보면 한국은 지난 100년 간 최악의 팬데믹과 맞서 비교적 잘 싸워왔다. 확산 직후 중국인 입국자에 대한 국경 폐쇄에 실패한 것 외에도 보건당국은 검사(testing), 추적(tracking), 치료(treating)라는 "3-T 전략"으로 코로나19를 효과적으로 통제했다. 그러나 언제나 그렇듯 세계에서 가장 길었던 마스크 의무 착용에 대해 거의 불평하지 않고 인내한 한국 국민은 더 큰 공로를 인정받을 만하다.


However, it is questionable if the Yoon Suk Yeol administration will finish the COVID-19 fight equally well.
그러나 윤석열 정부가 코로나19와의 싸움을 똑같이 잘 마무리 할 수 있을지 의문이다.


With the near-complete lifting of the mask mandate, health officials and the media say now is the time for "self-quarantine," stressing personal hygiene. Still, there is much hygiene work left for the government to do. Above all, the Yoon administration is doing too little to raise the booster vaccination rate, especially among older adults, who account for over 80 percent of COVID-19 deaths. The government should provide more or incentives and take other steps to jack the booster vaccination rate.
마스크 착용 의무 해제가 거의 완료되면서 보건당국과 언론은 개인 위생을 강조하며 지금이 바로 ‘자가격리'해야 할 때라고 말한다. 그럼에도 불구하고 정부가 해야 할 일이 많이 남아 있다. 무엇보다, 윤석열 정부는 코로나19 사망자의 80% 이상을 차지 하는 고령층의 추가 접종률을 높이는 데 소홀하다. 정부는 더 많은 장려책을 제공하고 추가 예방 접종률을 높이기 위한 다른 조치를 취해야 한다.


1월 25일 (수) The Korea Times 사설

KEY WORDS
■ unwelcome 반갑지 않은
■ unreported 신고되지[알려지지] 않는
■ antibody 항체
■ immune to ~에 영향을 받지 않는
■ lift (제제를) 풀다, 해제하다
■ reassuring 안심시키는
■ negligible (중요성·규모가 작아) 무시해도 될 정도의
■ strain 종류[유형]
■ hygiene 위생
■ account for (부분·비율을) 차지하다


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