Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Sept. 23 chairs a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at Government Complex-Seoul. (Office for Government Policy Coordination under Prime Minister Secretariat)

By Jung Joo-ri

Masks from Sept. 26 will no longer be required at an outdoor gathering of 50 or more people or outdoor performances and sporting events.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Sept. 23 announced this at a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at Government Complex-Seoul.

"We are definitely overcoming the crisis of COVID-19 resurgence," he said. "Considering the quarantine situation and public inconvenience, the government will lift low-risk quarantine regulations one by one after collecting expert opinions."

Indoor mask mandates will remain for the time being. The prime minister said this is "a measure that considered the possibility of a rise in influenza patients and COVID-19 resurgence in winter."

On a study conducted on 10,000 people about the formation of antibodies against COVID-19, he said, "The research showed that about 97% had antibodies through vaccination or natural infection."

"Fifty-seven percent of those naturally infected had antibodies, 19 points higher than the 38% who got antibodies among cumulative patients over the same period," he added. "This means a rate of within 20% of those infected who did not test positive."

"We will continue gathering data such as that from long-term follow-up studies on changes in antibody levels for use in devising measures."

As of midnight the same day, the number of COVID-19 patients reached 29,108, with 399 critically ill and 68 deaths. The cumulative number of deaths thus hit 28,077 for a fatality rate of 0.11%.

etoilejr@korea.kr