South Korea Covid: How ‘textbook’ methods helped country kerb cases

Using “old-fashioned” techniques, this country’s Covid approach has saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Using approaches experts have deemed “textbook” and even “old-fashioned,” South Korea’s pandemic strategy has seen the country minimise deaths and infections.

After battling the pandemic for 22 months, South Korea has recorded only 2967 Covid-related deaths out of a population of 51.78 million. Their enviable mortality rate is even more impressive when compared to the 142,000 and 754,000 deaths recorded by the UK and the US respectively.

Looking at South Korea’s virus strategy, health expert and researcher from the Mayo Clinic, Dr Vincent Rajkumar said their approach, which relied on wearing masks, isolation and contact tracing, “a success”.

“South Korea followed the textbook principles of epidemiology. Kept deaths 40 times lower all the way till 75 per cent of population fully vaccinated,” he tweeted. “This is success.”

Patient 31: South Korea’s first ‘super spreader’

With the first cases of Covid entering South Korea on January 20, there was one particular “superspreader” infection which prompted the country to accelerate its response.

Globally dubbed as ‘Patient 31,’ the 61-year-old woman from South Korea’s third-highest populated city, Daegu, tested positive for the virus on February 18.

While infectious she had visited two large-scale worship events which put her in contact with over 1000 people and nation cases soon ballooned to over 1000. By March, South Korea had become the most infected country in the world, following China.

Writing for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Senior Vice President and Korea Chair Victor Cha said this case was a “critical point” that changed how South Korea managed the pandemic. This included real-time infection updates, quick governmental approval for Covid-testing, and stringent contact-mapping which included GPS-based mobile surveillance.

“South Korea undertook a massive public and private sector effort to fashion a national response to the pandemic,” wrote Mr Cha.

Notably, this also included drive-through testing, which was globally “hailed as an ingenious measure” which protected healthcare workers and provided fast and accessible access to testing.

‘Old-fashioned social interventions’

Comparing South Korea’s pandemic approach to that of the UK government, researchers from Lancaster University said South Korea’s combination of a hi-tech contact tracing and social interventions were pivotal in tackling the initial spread of Covid-19.

Writing for The Conversation, authors Choon Key Chekar, Joshua R. Moon and Michael Hopkins said their Covid-control measures meant they didn’t have to rely on “draconian lockdowns” observed in the UK. This is despite South Korea being one of the “world’s most densely populated large countries”.

“Much of what has worked in South Korea is exceptional only in that other countries – such as the UK – have made no effort to replicate it,” they wrote.

Instead health authorities focused on “locally delivered and individually tailored self-isolation systems,” with local councils providing in home-quarantine support measures like daily communication and customised stay-at-home kits which can include customised foods, medications and even pet food.

“Key to this has been quarantine measures for travellers arriving in the country, which were introduced very swiftly, and the country’s highly effective test-trace-isolate system,” they wrote.

“This carefully designed process provides local support for those in isolation, while monitoring them and sanctioning noncompliance.”

The extra support measures during isolation was also beneficial in encouraging compliance. Creating social bonds meant people were less likely to break the rules, with case workers on hand to help residents with urgent issues like banking and pet care.

South Korea’s Covid cases are also comparatively lesser than those of the US and the UK. Picture: John Hopkins University.

The path to Covid normal

Despite their globally renowned pandemic response, South Korea is not immune to minor outbreaks and waves of rising cases. However, while daily infections hit a pandemic record of 3273 daily cases in September, the country’s 75.5 per cent fully-vaccinated rate has allowed authorities to begin a “gradual return to normal life”.

Involving three, four-week phases, the first phase started on November 4 and centred on rules to reinvigorate the country’s economy. Businesses are no longer under any operating curfew, including high-risk venues like restaurants, gyms and movie theatres.

Gatherings of fully vaccinated people have also been eased to 500 people, or 100 for groups with attendees who are unvaccinated or unable to be vaccinated. Despite this, face masks will continue to be mandatory in indoor spaces during the first and second phases at least.

While cases have since increased since restrictions have been eased – something which has happened to other countries coming out of strict lockdowns – authorities are aware of the trade-off.

“We have to find a way to safely coexist with Covid-19,” said the director of the Korea Disease Control Agency (KDCA), Jeong Eun-kyeong, speaking at a press briefing in late October. “Even if that means taking some risks.”