South Korea is the only country, so far, to flatten the curve of new coronavirus cases without resorting to extreme measures such as lockdowns. From new 909 cases recorded in a single day on February 29, new COVID-19 cases in South Korea dropped to 64 less than a month later, on March 23. As of Wednesday, March 25, the total number of cases in the country stood at 9,137 with 126 deaths and 3,730 recoveries.

Although Korea made headlines last month for being one of the countries with a large number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, the Korean government addressed the incident by putting the word TRUST into a whole new level. TRUST is characterized by Transparency, Robust Screening and Quarantine, Unique but Universally Applicable, Strict Control, and Treatment.

According to Korea’s Blue House, 17 nations have already asked for the test kits through government channels such as Korean government offices abroad and foreign government offices in Korea, while 26 other countries have asked Korea to send protective goods including the test kits or dispatch health officials. In addition, these urgent export requests, the test kit producers in Korea have also received direct calls about export from about 30 countries.

The rapid increase until last month in the number of confirmed cases in Korea was due to the government’s capacity to run up to 19,000 diagnostic tests per day and the intensive epidemiological analysis of high-risk groups. In the early phase of the outbreak, the government made hospitalization mandatory for all confirmed cases regardless of the severity of symptoms.

Although COVID-19 infection can manifest with little or no symptoms, the sheer diagnostic capability of the government made early detection possible, thereby providing treatment at the earliest possible stage, and increasing the likelihood of successful recovery.

According to the updated WHO recommendations for international traffic in relation to COVID-19 outbreak, evidence shows that restricting the movement of people and goods during public health emergencies is ineffective in most situations. WHO’s overall position is that excessive additional measures including entry bans need to be implemented very cautiously.

Also Under Article 43 of International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005), State Parties implementing additional health measures that significantly interfere with international traffic, including refusal of entry, are required to send to the WHO the public health rationale and relevant scientific information. This is something that, at the moment, the Korean government does not prioritize because the focus should be on addressing the diagnosis and treatment of the confirmed cases at the fastest possible time.

We are fully committed to sharing information, both domestically and internationally, in a prompt and transparent manner. South Korean’s domestic law (Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act) ensures the public’s right to be informed on the latest developments and responses to outbreaks and infection control. This openness and transparency have been pivotal in gaining public trust and high level of civic awareness, which encouraged the public to take voluntary self-quarantine and other preventive measures such as “social distancing” that has effectively slowed the spread of COVID-19. Public support and participation in the efforts to overcome the COVID-19 have materialized in civic activism nationwide.