정부 '1주일에 2개씩' 마스크 5부제 실시…공공물량 비중 80%
Face masks have been selling out fast.
Some citizens were unable to buy them as most drug stores and shops have been out of stock.
To ease the shortage, South Korea will begin limiting purchases to two masks per person each week at local pharmacies and post offices.
IDs... plus health certificates will be required for foreigners because the end digit of your birth year will determine on which day of the week you can make the purchase.
Kim Mok-yeon explains further.
Starting Monday, residents in South Korea will only be allowed to purchase two masks a week from pharmacies.
"Each person will be allowed to purchase two masks per week from pharmacies. Though this isn't enough, we hope the public will understand that priority should go to those fighting COVID-19 on the frontlines."
In a briefing on Thursday, Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom announced that the government will operate what's in effect a mask distribution system... by allowing residents to buy only two masks and only on designated days of the week, which will depend on their year of birth.
The masks will be sold at some 23,000 pharmacies nationwide that participate in an online system for tracking purchases of medicine.
The finance minister also said that 80 percent of masks manufactured in the nation will be allocated to public sector retailers like the post office, up from the previous 50 percent.
Sales of the remaining 20 percent will also be closely monitored so that no single buyer can get more than 10,000 masks without the government's approval.
From Friday, there'll also be a strict ban on mask exports.
Production-wise, the government is aiming to speed up manufacturing from the current 10 million a day to 14 million.
It will provide equipment to mask companies so they can make masks faster, and it'll encourage them to keep production going round the clock... by paying higher prices for masks made on the weekend.
Regarding shortages of mask material, the country will also ban exports of melt-blown nonwoven fabric filters.
All producers and sellers of the material will be required to report their production and inventories to the government on a daily basis until the end of June.
Violators could face a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine of up to 42 thousand U.S. dollars.
Kim Mok-yeon, Arirang News.
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