There is no room for doubt that South Korea has successfully responded to the Outbreak. The question is, then, how the South Korean government has strengthened its capacity and thus prevented the disaster from being widespread? Well, the answer lies in swift and adequate government actions that include 4T strategies: Test, Treat, Trace, and Transparency. This paper investigates the 4 T strategies that the Korean government has implemented in order to surmount the Pandemic and their positive impacts.

South Korea, in fact, has undergone one of the worst Covid-19 hits in the early stage. Covid-19 gained its first momentum in late February, has infected more than nine thousand Koreans by the end of May. According to Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC, 질병관리본부,) government institution responsible for surveying, controlling, and preventing diseases, confirmed COVID cases had increased from 31 cases on February 18th, to 9768 cases on 31st May; however, its speed and size diminished substantially in April. Now each day, KCDC reports only a few cases, mostly less than 30. Korea has successfully surmounted the Pandemic.

▲ Global Comparison Chart of confirmed Covid-19 cases. CoronaBoard.

One key in Korea’s success dealing with the virus can be found in mass rapid Testing strategy. The Korean government provides a test for free to both Korean and non-Korean citizens with suspected symptoms. Not only that but also the Korean government introduced Emergency Use Authorization (EUA.) EUA, under a circumstance as now, allows certain types of medical equipment as a diagnosis kit to be employed in public without them necessarily going through a long and complex process that would have been required in a normal situation. Further, KCDC has introduced several unique and innovative techniques that enable health workers to test for the virus safer and faster such as drive-through testing. By the end of May, the Korean government has performed approximately 910,000 tests.

Another strategy the Korean government implemented is appropriate Treat. the Korean government prioritizes patients with severe symptoms to be provided with medical services and medical treatment while remaining others who do not need hospitalizations are monitored at home. Also, the Korean government covers in-hospital care costs for confirmed patients with government expenditures. Korean’s success in preventing further unnecessary death is evidenced by Korea’s Covid-19 low death rate which is about 2.4%. This is rather below an average of 3.4% worldwide Covid-19 death rate.

▲ Health workers are performing drive-through testing for the new coronavirus. (Yonhap News)

Equally important is Trace. The Korean Government gathers information about both suspected and confirmed Covid-19 patients and monitors nearly all of them. Tracking their locations, the Korean government has been able to secure patients from infecting others, and thus, it has successfully contained the virus from wide-spreading in the early stage.

Transparency is also acclaimed as a considerable success; people are not restricted from gaining access to government information concerning the virus. Korean people, trusting their government, have remained ordered instead of panicking. Though there are some concerns about the infringement of individuals’ rights and privacy, the Korean government does not stigmatize confirmed patients but rather protects their identity.

Koreans and their government have successfully demonstrated their capability in overcoming difficulties as such now. Their success provides other countries with the epitome of dealing with the virus properly and how to prevent it from spreading widely.