On April 6, Reuters reported that South Korea’s new confirmed cases fell below 50, and that the response methods of the country against the virus are receiving praise from the World Health Organization.

Based on the report, South Korea reported fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases for the first time since its peak in late February, earning the praise of the World Health Organization for combatting the spread in one of the first countries to be hard-hit by the disease.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, held a 25-minute phone call with President Moon Jae-in, praising South Korea’s leadership in containing the virus, Moon’s presidential Blue House said.

Moon said in the call that South Korea was “willing to actively support other countries with prevention skills and supplies as the circumstances permit”. Moon said he recently had phone calls with about 20 global leaders.

Tedros proposed that Moon help support sub-Saharan African countries with virus-related supplies including test kits, the Blue House said.

Despite the praise from WHO and optimistic expectation, on Saturday, the government extended its intensive social distancing campaign by two weeks, citing the sustained small clusters of infections.

Starting on Sunday, the government toughened penalties for those who violate self-quarantine rules to up to 10 million won ($8,100) in fines or one year in prison from 3 million won ($2,400) in fines.