South Korea

South Korea Distributes ‘Pet Plants' to Fight COVID Depression

South Korea announced this month that it will offer a first batch of 2,000 "pet plant kits" to people living in self-quarantine

Succulent plants
Stock photo/ Getty

Forget puppies, who need to be housebroken and sometimes chew your shoes. The government in South Korea, looking to help people fight the mental strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic, is turning to plants.

It announced this month that it will offer a first batch of 2,000 "pet plant kits" to people living in self-quarantine to help them battle depression and other mental health conditions brought on, or exacerbated, by the pandemic.

"We understand that the general public is suffering from feeling blue and fatigue because of drawn-out COVID-19 and some people are calling such state of mind 'COVID-19 Blue,'” said Yoon Tae Ho, the head quarantine official at South Korea’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.

Yoon said officials are looking to plants "to help soothe the minds of people under self-quarantine" and to create indoor gardens at hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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