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A poster for the “kind-hearted mask” campaign. (provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Government)

A “mask-sharing” campaign has been kicked off to encourage people to donate medical masks to medical staff, the elderly, and pregnant women. Every student at kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools in Seoul will be given three masks free of charge.

The city of Seoul said on Mar. 16 that it was launching a “kind-hearted mask campaign,” encouraging people to stick to cloth masks and to waive their right to buy publicly distributed masks so that medical masks can be available for those who really need them, including medical personnel and people in vulnerable groups. A number of consumer advocacy groups and other civic groups will be joining the campaign, including the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations, the Seoul Heungsadan, and the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement.

“Cloth masks should be worn in locations where there isn’t a serious risk of infection. We will set aside medical masks for medical staff, the elderly, the infirm, and other vulnerable groups,” the groups said in a joint statement for the campaign that was read at a press conference at Seoul City Hall on Monday.

The Seoul city government said that cloth masks were effective at blocking the droplets released when people cough. “Even the Korean Medical Association has recently taken the position that cloth masks can help prevent transmission of COVID-19. A Hong Kong medical expert suggested that cloth masks could be an alternative for medical masks in a British medical journal,” said Ahn Jong-ju, honorary safety mayor for Seoul, during the press conference.

As of Monday, citizens who join the “kind-hearted mask campaign” can receive a free kit that includes a cloth mask and portable hand sanitizer. The campaign will take place from 3 to 5 pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week at major subway stations, district offices, and parks.

Seoul is planning to distribute medical masks donated by citizens to medical personnel, nursing home workers, mass transit drivers, sales staff, taxi drivers, the weak and elderly, pregnant women, and people with chronic diseases. The exact locations where the campaign is taking place can be checked on the Seoul city website and on 120 Dasan Call Center.

Toward this end, Seoul has had 3.2 million cloth masks produced at apparel factories in the city, at the cost of 9.7 billion won (US$7.8 million). Given the importance of hand-washing and hygiene in preventing COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the city has also produced 3.2 million units of portable hand sanitizer. Starting on Mar. 17, some 78,000 public servants working for Seoul and its self-governing districts and staff at city-run agencies and public foundations will be taking part in the campaign. The city is also encouraging companies in the private sector to participate.

On Mar. 23, Seoul will begin distributing 600,000 refillable cloth masks and 3 million electrostatic filters to elderly individuals, people with disabilities, and low-income earners who are having trouble finding medical masks. These masks have a slot that can hold an electrostatic filter, providing at least as much functionality as a KF80 medical mask.

All 960,000 students at kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the city will be given three complementary masks, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) said on Monday. “We’ve made an emergency supplemental budget allocation of 39.2 billion won (US$31.52 million) to keep students healthy and safe from COVID-19,” the office said.

Students are being given cloth masks with replaceable filters, with four filters distributed with each mask. This reflects the current inadequate supply of medical masks and the government’s recommendation that healthy people use cloth masks. Schools will be instructed to set aside the extra masks they’re provided (one per student) or to provide them to low-income students. An additional 15.9 billion won (US$12.78 million) is being allocated for purchasing masks.

Furthermore, SMOE will also be spending 800 million won (US$643,221) to install thermal imaging cameras at schools with fewer than 300 students, which didn’t receive funding for that purpose in the central government’s revised supplemental budget. This move means that students can be checked for fever at all 1,351 schools in the city of Seoul.

By Lee Jeong-gyu and Lee Yu-jin, staff reporters

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