Ruling People Power Party lawmakers and government officials attend a policy consultation meeting on lifting the indoor mask mandate at the National Assembly in Seoul, Dec. 22. Yonhap

The government plans to downgrade the indoor mask mandate, the country's last remaining COVID-19 restriction, to a recommendation if specific criteria are met, a ruling party lawmaker quoted health authorities as saying Thursday.

Korea has been mulling lifting the indoor mask requirement in phases starting next month as critics questioned its efficacy over inconveniences and some study results suggested sufficient immunity among the population.

Still, the mandate will remain in place at high-risk facilities like sanatoriums, hospitals and pharmacies.

Shoppers wear masks at a book store in Seoul, Dec. 4. Yonhap

"Health authorities reported on their plan to lift the indoor mask mandate and change it to a recommendation if certain criteria are met," Rep. Sung Il-jong, the chief policymaker of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), said in a briefing after a policy consultation meeting with government officials.

"The PPP asked the government to lift the mask mandate in a bolder manner in consideration of suggestions from experts that it is okay to take off masks, and to live up to people's hopes to throw away masks as early as possible," he said.

PPP lawmakers pointed out that the current variant of the virus has lower chances of causing severe cases and the prolonged pandemic has stunted language development among toddlers.

"Even if new infections increase after the mask mandate is changed to a recommendation, we shared experts' opinion that our capacity is sufficient, in terms of medical facilities and health workers," Sung said.

He said the ruling party also called on the government to consider shortening a mandatory quarantine period for infected people to three days.

This photo shows a sign at a shopping mall in Seoul asking visitors to wear masks, Dec. 18. Yonhap

In a meeting of health experts organized by the PPP on Wednesday, experts had suggested easing the seven-day mandatory quarantine period to three days as currently applicable to health workers.

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong, who attended the meeting, said the government will draw up scientific, reasonable guidelines for the policy change.

The government is scheduled to announce the new guidelines on Friday.

Korea reported 75,755 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, in the wake of a steady rise in the infection numbers in recent weeks amid growing fears of a winter resurgence. (Yonhap)