The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it ended the monitoring of cold medicines on Monday because the shortage of such drugs has been resolved.

ministry’s drug management division sent a letter to the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA), saying the government would wrap up the monitoring of cold medicines as of Monday.

The government will also end its support for cold drug manufacturers and importers for increased production as of July 15.

The announcement came as the supply of cold medicines was relatively stable in early July, compared to March and April, when daily Covid-19 cases spiked to over 200,000.

Months earlier, amid the spread of the Omicron variant and the shortage of cold medicines, the government ordered each drugmaker to report the production, import, sales, and inventory of cold medicines weekly.

To boost the manufacturing of cold medicines, the MFDS worked with the Ministry of Employment and Labor to temporarily extend the weekly work hours of workers at pharmaceutical firms to more than 52 hours.

“We inform you that if Covid-19 resurges, the MFDS will resume the supply monitoring immediately. We ask for your continued interest and active cooperation in local drug supply and demand management,” the MFDS said in the letter to the KPBMA.