TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday (Feb. 16) said that, unlike the U.S. and Europe, students in Taiwan will not be bullied if they continue to wear masks after the mandate is lifted.

Starting on Feb. 20, Taiwan will implement its second phase of easing mask regulations by ending the indoor mask mandate, except for certain places such as public transport, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. On March 6, wearing masks in schools will become optional.

At a Thursday press conference, a member of the media said parent groups are worried children will be bullied if they continue to wear masks at school and asked how the center would deal with this situation. CECC head Victor Wang (王必勝) said the Ministry of Education and the county and city education bureaus have been asked to take steps to implement the new guidelines in the schools.

Wang said that the CECC will set out the general principles and the schools will then adopt corresponding measures, which the center will respect. As for bullying concerns, Wang said that based on experience over the past years, "there are relatively few cases of bullying over the wearing of masks in Asian countries, while there are more in Europe and the U.S."