Can Koreans be 'FREE' from mask wearing?: Advanced mathematical model can suggest the idea

BackgroundIt was found that more than half of the population in Korea had a prior COVID-19 infection. In 2022, most nonpharmaceutical interventions, except mask-wearing indoors, had been lifted. Discussions about easing the indoor mask mandate are ongoing. MethodsWe developed an age-structured compartmental model that distinguishes vaccination history, prior infection, and medical staff from the rest of the population. Contact patterns among hosts were separated based on age and location. We simulated scenarios with the lifting of the mask mandate all at once or sequentially according to the locations. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of a new variant assuming that it has higher transmissibility and risk of breakthrough infection. FindingsWe found that the peak size of administered severe patients might not exceed 1,100 when the mask mandate is lifted everywhere, and 800 if the mask mandate only remains in the hospital. If the mask mandate is lifted in a sequence (except hospital), then the peak size of administered severe patients did not exceed 650. Moreover, if the new variant have both of higher transmissibility and immune reduction therefore the effective reproductive number of the new variant is approximately 3 times higher than the current variant, additional interventions may be needed to keep the administered severe patients from exceeding 2,000, which is the critical level we set. InterpretationOur findings showed that the lifting of the mask mandate, except in hospitals, would be applicable more manageable if it is implemented sequentially. Considering a new variant, we found that depending on the population immunity and transmissibility of the variant, wearing masks and other interventions may be necessary for controlling the disease. FundingThis paper is supported by the Korea National Research Foundation (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MEST) (NRF-2021M3E5E308120711). This paper is also supported by the Korea National Research Foundation (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MEST) (NRF-2021R1A2C100448711). This research was also supported by a fund (2022-03-008) by Research of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Research in contextO_ST_ABSEvidence before this studyC_ST_ABSThere are numerous studies in modelling transmission dynamics of COVID-19 variants but only a few published works tackle the lifting of mask mandate considering the omicron variant, although these studies did not consider unreported cases, variants, and waning immunity. Furthermore, there is no age-structured modeling study which investigated the effect of lifting mask mandate considering high immune state of the population, contributed by both of natural infection and vaccination. Added value of this studyOur mathematical model considered key factors such as vaccine status, age structure, medical staff, prior infection, and unreported cases to study the COVID-19 epidemic in Korea. Updated data and variant-specific parameters were used in the model. Contact patterns in the household, school, work, hospital and other places are considered separately to make the model applicable to the mask mandate issue. Seasonality and scenarios on possible future variants are also included in this study. Implications of all the available evidenceWith mask wearing as one of the remaining non-pharmaceutical interventions in Korea and other countries, this study proposes strategies for lifting the mask mandates while ensuring that cases remain manageable. A variant-dependent factor is incorporated into the model so that policymakers could prepare proactive intervention policies against future variants.