What can the U.S learn from how South Korea responded to the COVID-19
South Korea's COVID-19 success story
Since the outbreak of Covind-19..
Travel Restrictions
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the South Korea they prevented this health crisis with comprehensive monitoring and stringent quarantine procedures, as many other countries used to control Covid-19 successfully. Several epidemics have forces the South Korean government to build an effective disaster response, which is now done using highly advanced information and communications technology.
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A significant move taken by the South Korean government in the early outbreak was investing in extensive and speedy testing. The Korean government supported and encouraged many private companies to develop test kits quickly, and authorized the use of the diagnostic kit immediately. They also created an accessible walk-through and drive-through test centers to increased their ability to test as many people as possible and quickly.
At the beginning of the Covid-19, South Korea implemented unique entry protocols for travelers arriving from Wuhan.
In order to enter the South Korea they need went through the procedure initially included designated entry lines and questionnaires, but were later extended to require temperature tests, boundary checking for all passengers, and 14-day mandatory quarantines. (Traveelrs without Korean citizenship are equipped with self-quarantine services, but must compensate for their stay.)
Isolation and Quarantine
In the early stages of the pandemic, the South Korean government transformed multiple hospitals and private retreat centers into provisional isolation wards. It did so for two reasons: To provide for COVID-19 patients thus avoiding transmission within families, and to alleviate hospitals bed shortages. Clinically healthy patients that did not need inpatient services were supervised and quarantined on a routine basis by health care staff.
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The quarantine policies of South Korea are really strict but supportive. People who have any symptoms of COVID-19 or had contact with a confirmed case, who have travelled abroad, or who believe they might be contaminated must self-quarantine. People who are in quarantine must use the Self-Quarantine Safety Protection app for 14 days. Case officers use the app, which include location tracking, to determine whether individuals violate quarantine. People who broke the Quarantine law need to wear a wristbands that link to the app notify case officers if they are not in the same place as their cell devices. The penalty for breaching self-quarantine is severe: $8,217.37 USD.
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Contact tracing app used in South Korea
Social Distancing
South Korea has a three-tiered social distancing system of half tiers (Level 1, Level 1.5, and so on to Level 3) as well as a "distancing in real life" technique, which is intended to be the most sustainable level of restriction. These levels are adjusted according to metrics such as the number of instances and the cases and rate of change.
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After the first implementation of the "distancing in daily life" strategy, multiple outbreaks occurred in the Seoul area, with clusters from bars and warehouses. So Korean government decided to make more strict distancing guidelines until daily cases counts were below ten. Moreover, the Korean government made a very strict rule about wearing a mask properly and distancing around people. Also, they introduced mandatory mask-wearing, enforceable by fines of up to $90.
Food, water, and mask
Food and vital products distribution (e.g., personal protection equipment) has become a crucial topic that has received extensive media coverage. Toilet paper, hand sanitizers, and disinfectants were commonly hoarded in the United States and Canada, and facial masks were in limited supply. In such a case, already disadvantaged populations such as the pregnant women, aged, and disabled had hard time getting an essential goods to protect themselves from the virus. In order to solve this issues, the Korean governments decided to started a 5-day rotation system for mask distribution in a reasonable cost. People who are in Korea could buy two masks from their local pharmacies on a designated day based on the last digit of their birth years. They also made a private mobile app to tell people where they can buy those essential good and availability. One thing that surprised me the most that the South Korea government did was that they provided necessary goods to quarantined people with water, rice, food, toilet paper, face masks, and hand sanitizers directly to their address. These efforts by the South Korean government increased public confidence to comply with governments policy and practice citizenship.
