The country recorded 64 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 8,961 with 111 deaths. But health officials warn against complacency, saying the country still faces a long war against the infection.

How different is South Korea’s approach?

Nearly 20,000 people are tested every day for coronavirus in South Korea, more people per capita than anywhere else in the world. The country has created a network of public and private laboratories and provides dozens of drive-through centres where people with symptoms can check their health status.

South Korea developed its approach after an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) in 2015, when 36 people died in the country, which had the second-largest number of Mers cases after Saudi Arabia. Laws on managing and publicly sharing information on patients with infectious diseases changed significantly after Mers and could be seen in action this year when the government used phone alerts to tell people if they were in the vicinity of a patient.

Why is South Korea fearing a new wave?

The country has seen two waves of infections, the first beginning on 20 January with the first confirmed case, and the second with mass infections among a religious group. Now there are fears that imported cases could fuel a third wave. The government plans to install around 20 phone booth-style test facilities inside Incheon Airport to speed up the process of testing all arrivals from Europe.

Analysis by Laura Bicker Seoul correspondent

South Korea is at a critical juncture. Yes the aggressive use of technology to trace the virus and the mass testing of all who’ve been in contact with the infection appears to be a strategy that has worked but the question doctors across the country are asking themselves is – what comes next?

The paradox of South Korea’s success is that having worked so hard to lower infection rates, their medics have to keep going. It’s a bit like climbing a steep mountain without knowing how high the peak will be or what obstacles may be in the way. The dire situation in Europe also has many here anxious that if they let up just a little, that too could be their fate.