The number of citizens wearing masks increases everywhere
"Flu patients are on the rise due to fine dust"

[Seoul = Newsis] Reporter Park Kwang-on = With the end of COVID-19, citizens who enjoyed the freedom of "no mask" are wearing masks again. This is because flu has been prevalent recently and fine dust concentrations have become more frequent.

On the afternoon of the 21st, many passers-by wearing masks were seen walking in various places in Jeonnong 1-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Some people went to nearby convenience stores and pharmacies, bought masks, and wore them as they were.

"There are a lot of people around Cheongnyangni Station who are waiting for a bus wearing a mask, so I wore a mask just in case," said Kim in his 20s. "I think I'm going to wear a mask for a while, but it's kind of weird because I think I'm back to the COVID-19 era."

Joo, an office worker in his 30s living in Gwanak-gu, has recently piled up a lot of masks next to the front door and takes them out whenever he goes to work. Joo said, "I bought a mask because I was nervous because I saw a lot of people groaning on public transportation when I went to work," adding, "Rather, I feel safe to wear the mask again."

According to the 45th-week (November 5-11) infectious disease sample monitoring weekly news released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 16th, the share of flu doctors was 32.1 per 1,000 outpatients.
Looking at the recent trend, there was an increase from 14.6 people in 40 weeks to 15.5 people in 41 weeks → 18.8 people in 42 weeks → 32.6 people in 43 weeks → 39 people in 44 weeks → 32.1.

Compared to the trend in the same period over the past five years, this year is remarkably high at 7.8 in 2018 → 7 in 2019 → 3.1 in 2020 → 3.3 in 2021 → 11.2 in 2022 → 32.1 in 2023.

Along with the flu epidemic, the recent increase in the number of days when fine dust shows a "bad" level is not irrelevant to the "road mask" phenomenon.

Park Min-ji (29), who lives in Guro-gu, purchased masks in large quantities through an online shopping mall last week. Recently, there have been more days with severe fine dust, and I heard that the concentration will get thicker this winter. Park said, "After COVID-19, I vowed not to use masks again, but I bought them in large quantities because fine dust is getting worse these days."

In the online shopping mall's product review on purchasing masks, "The mandatory wearing of masks has been lifted, but since people with the flu cough, I think it should be used as a necessity," and "I live to protect my health because the fine dust is so severe."

According to Air Korea, a fine dust measurement site, the concentration of fine dust was generally "normal" in the entire region, but tomorrow (22nd), fine dust will accumulate due to atmospheric congestion, and the concentration of fine dust will be somewhat higher in the Midwest, and other countries will also show "bad" levels. After that, Thursday will be 'once bad' in the Midwest and 'moderate' in the rest of the country.

In addition, according to the "Extra Fine Dust Winter Outlook" data submitted by Lee Ju-hwan, a member of the People's Power, from the National Institute of Environmental Sciences, 50% of the probability that the concentration of ultra fine dust this winter (from next month to February 2024) was higher than last year (24㎍/㎥). The probabilities of similar or low were 30% and 20%, respectively.

In addition, the probability of high concentration days was 50% higher than last year (12th). The probabilities of being similar or less were 30% and 20%, respectively.

Jeong Jae-hoon, a professor of preventive medicine at Gachon University, said, "If you wear a mask, the probability of getting an infectious disease is greatly reduced, and the defense effect against fine dust is good."


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