President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition committee said Wednesday that the new government would determine whether to remove the outdoor mask mandate toward the end of May.
The transition team also said it plans to secure hospital beds and manpower to prepare for a possible resurge of Covid-19, prepare measures to protect the high-risk and vulnerable groups, and secure an additional 1 million oral Covid-19 treatments.
These measures are part of the "Covid-19 emergency response 100-day roadmap," announced by Ahn Cheol-soo, head of Yoon's transition team.
According to Ahn, the 100-day roadmap consists of 34 action plans in four promotion directions -- preparing a scientific evidence-based quarantine policy promotion system, establishing a sustainable infectious disease response system, protecting high-risk and vulnerable groups, and securing safe vaccines and sufficient therapeutic agents.
"A hundred days after President-elect Yoon takes office will be around August, and many experts predict an autumn resurge caused by new Covid-19 variants," Ahn said. "Therefore, we need a 100-day roadmap and complete all the preparations."
The transition committee divided necessary actions into three categories – tasks to be implemented within 30 days, tasks implemented within 50 days, and tasks implemented within 100 days of the new government's inauguration.
Ahn explained that the new government would consider removing the outdoor mask mandate within 30 days of the new government's inauguration.
"We will try to decide the matter around the end of May," Ahn said. "If the number of infected people drops to the level of other countries that have removed outdoor masks requirements, we may remove them, too."
He added that the new government's Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency would set the standard.
Ahn enumerated that within 30 days of the new government, it would conduct a nationwide antibody positivity rate survey, implement measures to secure hospital beds and manpower in preparation for a possible resurge of Covid-19 in the fall or winter, measures to protect nursing hospitals and facilities, support measures to prevent infection in schools, kindergartens, and daycare centers, pass a fast-track system allowing the high-risk group to receive a prescription for Paxlovid on the day of the testing positive for the virus, and additionally securing 1,009,000 new oral treatments,
Within 50 days of the new government, Yoon's administration plans to strengthen emergency and special patient treatment systems and psychological support for the vulnerable and shift the Covid-19 response system to general medical care such as local clinics.
Within 100 days, the goal is to re-establish the daily quarantine system based on scientific evidence, review measures to change the social distancing method, the establishment of a central hospital specializing in infectious diseases, an integrated quarantine information system, and vaccination plans such as the fourth immunization, and adjustment of the infectious disease grading system and reorganization of the quarantine system.
The government also plans to create a support system by investigating the aftereffects of the Covid-19 and raise the limit of treatment costs for adverse reactions to vaccines and death compensation to 50 million won ($39,550) and 100 million won, respectively.
"We are in the unfortunate situation of growing distrust of the government’s quarantine policy," Ahn claimed. "Instead of accepting the expert opinion, the incumbent Moon Jae-in administration made decisions based on political judgment or public opinion, making erroneous decisions that endanger many people's lives."
The new government will respond to Covid-19 with governance that prioritizes expert opinions through an infectious disease crisis response advisory body rather than making policy decisions at Cheong Wa Dae based on political judgment, Ahn added.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed 76,787 new virus cases on Wednesday, raising the cumulative caseload to 17,086,626.
The death toll came to 22,466, up 141 from the previous day, with a fatality rate of 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients came to 546, down 67 from a day earlier. It marks the first time in 62 days that the tally came under the 600-mark.
As of Wednesday, 33.08 million people have received booster shots or 64.5 percent of the country's population. The number of fully vaccinated people also came to 44.54 million, representing 86.8 percent of Koreans, the KDCA said.