How have South Korea and Singapore been successful in fighting coronavirus?
Asian countries, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, were three of the first countries with coronavirus cases due to their proximity to China. However, they have few new cases per day and almost no deaths.
If we look at some countries that were affected later, such as France, Spain, and the US, they all have a significant and continuously growing number of cases that have led their healthcare systems to the brink of collapse
For example, Italy, in around a month from the first diagnosed case, now has about 4000 cases per day.
Likewise, the US, where the coronavirus arrived quite late, is now the country with more cases.
But why this happened? Does the scale of the population determine this? Is the globalization to blame?
Not quite. As Mike Ryan, Head of Emergencies of the World Health Organization, said, these dramatic differences show how governments and societies react to overcome the virus.
For example, if we study how South Korea approached the virus, we can learn a bit about such differences.
They had their first coronavirus case early in January. How did they prepare? First, curiously, they didn’t include lockdowns or movement restrictions among their measures. Instead, they developed a network of private and public laboratories devoted to coronavirus testing. Also, they dedicated an enormous effort to building drive-through centers for people to get checked instead of going to hospitals or clinics and expand the virus. Likewise, even as they didn’t enforce major lockdowns, people only left their homes for their basic needs, and most companies allowed their workers to work from home. They kept the schools closed, and large concentrations were prohibited.
Nonetheless, South Korea already had a previous experience that allowed them to prepare for the coronavirus crisis. The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) shook the country with 36 deaths in 2015. Since then, they established a permanent Center for Disease Control, and a special pandemics department to prepare for worst-case scenarios. Those Centers became incredibly essential to face the coronavirus, and the results are clear.
They also were a step ahead regarding laws about managing and publicly sharing patients’ information. Those measures were criticized as invasive by some, and they are probably right, but their effectiveness cannot be disputed. They have apps that show the places where affected patients may have been days before their diagnosis, meaning they indicate areas people should avoid or get tested on time if they’ve also been on those places.
Another significant experience we can learn from is Singapore.
On early January, the Singapore Health Ministry said the virus had reached the island. Quickly, temperature screening at airports was established. Authorities also advanced on awareness fast. They rapidly isolated potential cases and initiated vigorous contact tracing from detected patients just as South Korea did. They also isolated potential cases at hotels, and universities, and left the worst cases at hospitals to avoid the healthcare system collapse.
In conclusion, the most successful cases of coronavirus fighting haven’t necessarily applied full lockdowns (albeit they have been recommended by the WHO and seem necessary in most countries), but have two characteristics: 1) quick isolation of suspected and confirmed cases and 2) widespread testing. This should be the way ahead for those countries fighting the pandemic.