South Korea, Son Jae-son rushed to the pharmacy near the house when he heard the news there was liquidating some inventory, but had to leave empty-handed.

South Korean health officials urged all citizens, even healthy people like Son, to wear masks to prevent the risk of nCoV infection, making the item quickly out of stock nationwide.

Son, a 30-year-old restaurant manager in Seoul, was delighted to see the regional drugstore announce that he would be liquidating less inventory at 13:00 on March 13, because his family only had a few paws. page to use. But when he arrived, many people were waiting in line at the store. Number of masks "evaporated" after only a few minutes and he had to leave empty handed.

"I should have gone there," Son said.

Friday was the best time for Son to find a mask under the Korean government's distribution program to combat the shortage of this item across the country. Instead of letting private companies decide on their own to ensure supply, the Korean government now controls nearly the entire production, distribution, and consumption of masks.

Seoul also set out a quota distribution program, which stipulates that each person can only buy up to two masks per week from pharmacies, on certain days of the week, depending on the last number in the year of birth. their. People with the last digits of the year of birth are 1 and 6 bought masks on Monday, 2 and 7 bought on Tuesday, 3 and 8 bought on Wednesday, 4 and 9 on Thursday, 5 and 0 on Friday. Those who haven't bought a mask yet can wait to buy it on the weekends.

This program can be seen as a good example for other countries to intervene in important industries, contributing to controlling the spread of epidemics. It is also a testament to the Korean war against Covid-19 and many other Asian nations with Europe and the US, where masks are not central to the government's efforts to prevent epidemics.

The World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend that healthy people wear masks, saying it is only for physicians who treat Covid-19 patients or those who sneeze and cough.

However, when the pandemic spreaded, more and more people in Western countries used masks. In the early days of the outbreak in Italy, masks appeared only on Chinatown in Milan. But now, as Covid-19 spread so quickly that the Italian government imposed a nationwide blockade, wearing masks when going out became a more common sight.

South Korea sees masks as an important link in the fight against Covid-19. The country's public health website places a picture of a mother and a child wearing a mask as their main picture.

The Seoul government has also asked more than 23,000 pharmacies to sell masks KF-94, similar masks N-95, as part of the national mask distribution program. Thanks to these policies, the price of masks is kept stable at 1.2 USD per unit, down 40% compared to normal.

With more than 8,200 people infected with nCoV, South Korea is gradually controlling Covid-19 after actively conducting large-scale testing and blocking tens of thousands of people, helping to give hope to other countries that they can prevent it. get this fast spreading disease.

The mask distribution program has been activated by the Korean government since March 9, but so far has not brought significant effectiveness to deal with the nationwide shortage. Hundreds of pharmacies still refuse to sell masks and say they cannot serve a very large customer base with only one or two employees. These pharmacies have faced a wave of outrage, harsh criticism from the Korean public during the uncontrolled Covid-19 epidemic.

"It seems that we are not fighting against nCoV, but fighting for masks," said Joo Young-sun, a pharmacist in Seoul.

The line of people outside Joo's pharmacy is up to 150, but she only sells 250 masks a day, which means it will run out within minutes. Stress such as increased multiples.

"Even my own family doesn't have enough masks to use," Joo said.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has asked to restrict exports of masks. More than 130 mask factories of the country pump about 10 million units a day, an increase of nearly 4 million compared to normal productivity. But with a population of 52 million, they will have to produce a minimum of 15 million units a day, a level that the Moon administration is committed to achieving in the near future.

South Korean health experts say the government-allocated mask can be used within 8 hours and one person should only use one each day.

"This is the worst option, at least for now," said the Korea Pharmaceutical Association spokesman, referring to the limit on the use of two masks a week.

Even those lucky enough to buy two masks a week still worry they don't have enough to use. Shin Soon-young, a 42-year-old woman with two elementary school children, said four of her family members had to share the remaining 10 masks. "We have to reuse them," Shin said.

Many economists say that Moon's intervention in the distribution of masks is not really appropriate. The government may play a major role in emergency situations like a pandemic, but the current price control policy may prevent some manufacturers from working at full capacity.

"The government should take a less restrictive approach and let the market operate according to its rules," said Kim Won-sik, an economics professor at Konkuk University in Seoul.

Several other countries attacked by Covid-19 also face masks. In China, a local government once declared a mask as a reward to anyone who denounced a person who had been to Hubei after discovering the first cases. In the US, where the new pandemic was in its early stages, many hospitals have warned of a serious shortage of masks.

Jeong Yoon-seok, the owner of a pharmacy in Seoul, expressed frustration over the government's abrupt decision to distribute drip masks to pharmacies. He was not even consulted or informed, but only knew about this policy when reading newspaper news.

"I obey just because I don't want to be selfish and really want my customers to buy the masks they need," Jeong said.