GOV’T TO REVISE MASK MANDATE WITHIN DEC.

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Now turning to COVID-19 news, South Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases reached a 12 week high for a Wednesday. The government said this winter will be the last battle in the fight against the resurgence, and said they will put in place adjustment plans related to indoor mask mandates.

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South Korea reported more than 74-thousand new COVID-19 cases for Tuesday, the most cases reported on a Tuesday in 12 weeks. The number of hospitalized critical patients remained above 400 for 19 straight days. Fifty four new deaths have been reported. The accrued death toll is 30,847. The government says this winter is expected to be the last peak of the outbreak and it's important to enforce unified quarantine rules nationwide. The remark is apparently meant to stress the authority of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters regarding the recent announcements of Chungcheongnam-do Province and Daejeon City of their plans to lift the indoor mask mandate. The government plans to revise mask-related measures within this month.

[Soundbite] Lee Sang-min(Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures HQs) : "We will discuss the mask mandate at our meetings and hold an open forum and discussion with experts before devising final measures by the end of this month."

Earlier, Daejeon City sent a letter to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters saying it would lift the indoor mask mandate on Dec. 15, 12 a.m. KDCA Director Peck Kyong-ran says the agency is considering modifying regulations regarding the fine for non-compliance with the mask rule and letting the public decide whether to mask up or not. Peck added the regulations will likely be modified as early as January and as late as March. However, the mask rule could remain in place in vulnerable facilities to protect high-risk groups. The weekly COVID-19 risk level in the country remains "intermediate." Some are calling for thorough virus prevention rules to protect high-risk groups even when the mask mandate is modified.