JoIn April, South Korea stood as an example of how to contain the coronavirus outbreak. A combination of aggressive testing, contact tracking, and isolation had helped him flatten the curve, despite its proximity to China (the center of the original outbreak) and without a single day of blocking.
The World Health Organization highlighted it as a compliment, the government launched a “coronavirus diplomacy” campaign with countries struggling with outbreaks and much higher death toll and published a detailed guide to managing a pandemic. in the South Korean way.
But eight months later, those first gains have given way to alarm that South Korea is in an unstoppable wave of infections caused by clusters that do not respond to its proven response.
Sunday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency [KDCA] reported a daily record of 1,030 new Covid-19 infections. The number of cases fell below 800 the next day, in part due to fewer tests being conducted over the weekend, but recovered to 880 on Tuesday. Health authorities warned that at the current rate, cases could reach 1,200 a day.
In the large Seoul region, home to about half of the country’s 52 million people, residents are pushing for stricter measures as authorities struggle to identify the transmission routes that fuel a viral resurgence in and around the capital.
Cases of South Korea
Park Young-joo, a 78-year-old woman living in Gyeonggi province near Seoul, said she was worried.
“I try to stay indoors as much as possible, but I live with my son’s family, so I’m always worried that he might catch something from them,” he said. “Everyone in my family is on edge and I think it’s because I’m old and I run a higher risk.”
Europeans and Americans, among others, could be forgiven for wondering why South Korea seems so worried: it has reported a total of 44,363 cases, according to the KDCA, and only 600 dead. This compares to more than 56,000 deaths in England, which has a similar population.
However, the government has warned that not containing the resurgence could force it to raise restrictions to level 3, the highest level, in fact sending the fifth Asian economy into a soft blockade for the first time since beginning of the pandemic.
Schools in the region were ordered to close on Tuesday and tests have increased, from 16,000 people a day in September to 22,000. End-of-year parties, a potentially huge source of transmission, have been banned.
Level 3 measures would keep all but non-essential workers at home, ban meetings of more than 10 people and limit train capacity to 50%.
Deaths in South Korea
After nearly a year of widespread use of masks, social distancing and periods of individual isolation caused by the country’s contact location technology, South Koreans are beginning to drop their guard, Prime Minister Chung said on Tuesday. Sye-kyun.
“While most people endure the inconvenience and abide by the rules, some feed the fierce spread of the virus with their negligence and irresponsibility,” Chung said at a televised government meeting, adding that the level measures 3 were the last resort because of the “irrevocable pain” they would cause to the economy.
Health authorities have identified family offenders who distance themselves from social life, such as churches and businesses dependent on the nightlife economy. In addition, numerous gatherings of family and friends were behind more than a fifth of the newly discovered clusters.
Some experts believe South Korea is paying the price for the government’s “premature” decision to ease restrictions in the fall.
“The government changed its policy in October, which means it must now tighten measures as the outbreak becomes widespread,” Eom Joong-sik, an infectious disease expert at the University of Gachon to Incheon.
“This has allowed the virus to spread to local communities and has increased the possibility of it spreading to an even wider area,” he said, warning that the Seoul area was rapidly running out of hospital beds.
Hailed just a few months ago for his initial response to the pandemic, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has seen his approval ratings drop to a record low.
Moon, who has said “the country’s back is against the wall,” apologized for not quickly curbing the recent rise in infections. “I’m sorry to think people feel anxious and worried,” he tweeted over the weekend.
Lee Seung-du, a 29-year-old Seoul resident, said he wore the most effective masks he could afford and was avoiding going out unless absolutely necessary.
“Every morning I get up and see that the number of infections has increased again,” he said. “Just a few weeks ago, the government boasted of praising its measures around the world. But I think it’s all a joke … I can’t believe he’s playing with people’s lives for a little good public relations. “