싸고 가볍다! '비말차단용 마스크',...보건용 마스크와 어떻게 다른가?<br /><br />A new type of face mask is now available in South Korea... that's ultra-thin to make it comfortable to wear in the summer... but with the same droplet-blocking function as the medical-grade KF94 or KF80 masks recommended by health authorities.<br />Cheaper and more breathable, they're labeled KF-AD for Anti-Droplet.<br />Lee Kyung-eun explains.<br />The summer heat makes it harder to breathe wearing a conventional medical-grade mask.<br />Those thinner dental masks could be an option, but most of them are not approved as medical aids.<br />The problem is solved, though, by a new type of masks... labeled KF-AD KF standing for Korea Filter, and AD for Anti-Droplet.<br />"This is a KF94 mask and this is anti-droplet mask. This weighs only one third of this. You can feel how much thinner this is. And the difference is even more evident under the light. "<br />But both are authorized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for droplet resistance.<br />The thicker mask can block 94 percent of particles as small as 0.4 micrometers, and the KF-AD can block about 50 to 75 percent.<br />"The key is not how many filters there are but what kind of materials we use. Non-woven fabrics cost only about one-third of fabrics used in other masks."<br />KF masks are sold at a fixed price of 15-hundred Korean won, or a little more than one U.S. dollar.<br />They are sold mostly through the public rationing system at pharmacies and the post office.<br />There you can only buy up to 10 per week.<br />But the KF-AD is sold at nearly half that price,... at around 5-hundred to 8-hundred Korean won.<br />They're sold only in the private sector,... mostly through online malls, and you can buy as many as you want.<br />That's why these masks are sold out everytime they're back in stock.<br />With the supply unstable, the government has banned their export, even though it's partially lifted the ban on exporting conventional masks.<br />Currently, about 4-hundred thousand KF-ADs are being produced daily.<br />But the government aims to increase that supply up to one million a day by the end of the month.<br />Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News.<br />
