Nation to relax mask mandate

South Korea will ease its outdoor mask mandate starting Monday as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations continue to decline.

People will only be required to wear a mask outdoors when participating in gatherings of more than 50 people or attending sports and cultural events with potentially large crowds, health authorities said. The mask mandate for indoors and public transportation will also remain in place.

Health workers have diagnosed a daily average of around 63,000 new cases in the past seven days — a steep drop from mid-March when the country was reporting hundreds of thousands of infections each day at the height of an omicron-driven surge. As hospitalizations and deaths slow, less than 30% of the country’s 2,800 intensive care units designated for COVID-19 patients are occupied.

South Korea had already removed most its pandemic restrictions earlier in April, including a 10-person limit on private social gatherings, a midnight curfew at restaurants, coffee shops and bars

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