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Al Jazeera

South Korea’s coronavirus lessons: Quick, easy tests; monitoring

South Korea appears to be bringing its coronavirus outbreak under control without resorting to draconian lockdowns.by Kelly Kasulis24 hours ago

More than 8,800 people around the world have now died from COVID-19, and countries are turning to draconian measures from sealing borders to stay-at-home orders to try and curb its spread.

But in South Korea, once the country with the worst outbreak outside China, life seems to be going on with some sense of normalcy. 

Dozens line up at pharmacies to buy their government-rationed face masks every week and many are working from home, but businesses carry on and cities have yet to be subjected to a government-instituted lockdown. 

Even better, South Korea has one of the lowest casualty rates from COVID-19 in the world, at just 1 percent.  

“South Korea really distinguished itself for being able to transparently disclose information and combat the virus,” said Hwang Seung-sik, an epidemiologist and professor at Seoul National University. 

“We did our best to stockpile resources and we worked hard to mass-test people and conduct quarantines. But the coronavirus has been around for about three months now, and it’s not very clear what preparations the US or other European countries have made.”

Swift action

South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak is a lesson in early action and swift containment. 

One month ago on February 18, South Korea diagnosed its 31st patient with COVID-19, and she soon became known as the country’s “super-spreader.”

A middle-aged woman who took part in mass congregations at a religious group called the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, Patient 31 passed the virus onto other members of the faithful as well as other unsuspecting residents of the southeastern city of Daegu. 

Suddenly, South Korea’s coronavirus cases multiplied 180-fold in a two-week span. At its peak, medical experts were diagnosing more than 900 new cases a day, making South Korea the second-largest outbreak in the world.

Blocking off certain areas and stopping movement was what people did in the Middle Ages when they were dealing with the Black Death.

DR ROH KYOUNG-HO, NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE SERVICE ILSAN HOSPITAL

Now, that growth rate has significantly slowed – and there is even talk that the outbreak might have peaked.

“We indeed succeeded in decreasing the rate of new confirmed cases to less than 100 per day. It’s a big accomplishment, but we can’t celebrate that just yet,” Hwang said. “This could be an optical illusion that’s fooling us into believing that the outbreak is over – an illusion caused by the previously skyrocketing numbers in Daegu.”

More than 8,500 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in South Korea as of mid-morning on March 19, and nearly three-quarters of those cases are concentrated in Daegu. 
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Widespread testing

Nevertheless, South Korea’s success in controlling the epidemic has garnered praise from around the world. 

When Chinese scientists first published the COVID-19 virus’ genetic sequence in January, at least four South Korean firms quietly began developing and stockpiling test kits alongside the government – well before the country had its first outbreak. 

By the time things got bad, the country had the ability to test more than 10,000 people per day, including at makeshift drive-through testing centres and newly added consultation phone booths at hospitals.

Anyone with a mobile phone in the country also received alerts about nearby infection paths so that citizens could avoid areas where the virus was known to be active.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/south-korea-coronavirus-lessons-quick-easy-tests-monitoring-200319011438619.html

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