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The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jung Eun-kyeong demonstrates the proper way to use a mask during a briefing on July 17. (Yonhap News)

“A” tested positive for COVID-19 on June 18 after spending seven days in a four-bed room in a hospital in Seoul following a leg operation. Because “A” and the other patients in the room mostly weren’t wearing a mask, four more people were soon infected. But none of the 17 mask-wearing medical staff who came into contact with “A” were infected. The mask made the difference between contracting the disease and staying healthy.

On July 17, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) disclosed instances in which wearing masks had blocked the additional spread of COVID-19. While the virus is extremely virulent, careful use of masks is enough to prevent a considerable amount of secondary infections, contract tracers have found.

Masks are what enabled three people to stay virus-free despite spending an hour in the same car with “B,” an infected individual in Gwangju, on June 27. Another relevant example was a church in Gyeonggi Province that made it mandatory for parishioners to wear masks in services. As a result, not a single member of its 9,000 congregation was infected after “C” and their daughter, who were infected with COVID-19, attended three services last month.

According to a study published by the Lancet, an internationally acclaimed medical journal, a person not wearing a mask is five times more likely to contract COVID-19 than one who is.

“A survey of attitudes about mask-wearing found that there’s little recognition of the need to wear masks in restaurants, cafés, and bars, where there’s a high risk of contracting COVID-19. People need to wear masks whenever they’re not actually eating, such as when they’re ordering food or waiting for it to be served,” KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong said during the daily briefing on Friday. Restaurants, cafés, and bars are especially dangerous because it’s often difficult to maintain a two-meter distance from other people there.

The KCDC also provided examples of poor mask usage, such as lowering the mask below one’s chin. The KCDC recommends that the mask completely cover the mouth and nose and fit snugly to the face. After putting on a mask, one should avoid touching its surface and should only use the straps when taking it off.

By Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter

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