On April 13, the Brookings Institute in the United States said that South Korea had implemented several measures to respond to COVID-19, and as a result it succeeded in suppressing the spread of the virus. Moreover, other countries around the world could adopt the measures conducted by South Korea to flatten the curve of COVID-19.

Initially, South Korea struggled to respond promptly to contain COVID-19, which led to a spike in the number of infections in the country. In late February, South Korea soon became the country with the second-highest COVID-19 infections after China. Korea has since implemented several measures to effectively “flatten the curve” and provide timely medical care to the infected.

Providing protective equipment to medical staff is the first step in the fight against the virus. South Korean hospitals are properly equipped to prevent infection among physicians and medical staff at hospitals so that they can safely test and treat patients with COVID-19.

Once the highly contagious nature of COVID-19 became known, South Korea reorganized their medical system to minimize people-to-people infections at hospitals. The lessons learned from 2015 MERS outbreak facilitated the development of rapid responses such as drive-through testing sites that help reduce testing time and protect medical staff.The medical care is focused on treating those with severe symptoms, which lowered the mortality rate of COVID-19 in Korea.

The South Korean government announced it will cover all medical costs associated with dealing with COVID-19 for its citizens and foreigners living in the country. People infected with COVID-19 were given paid leave and the unemployed received basic living expenses.

South Korea was effective in tracing people who may have come into contact with those who tested positive for COVID-19. The government can trace the potentially infected population, using CCTV footage to identify potential contacts when needed. Those in close contact with the infected are asked to get tested, while indirect contacts are ordered to self-quarantine for fourteen days. This has an effect of breaking the chain of potential infections from the people who came in contact with the infected population.

Governments should make a campaign strongly recommending its citizens to wear masks at all times outside their home. One should recognize that a mask is a powerful protection against the spread of COVID-19, and this practice will reduce the rapid spread at the individual level.

Governments should exercise as much transparency in information relating to COVID-19 as possible. South Korea is now publishing the movement information of citizens who tested positive, with local governments are publishing the number of new infections, the exact locations they visited, when they visited, using what mode of transportation, and whether they were wearing masks at the time.

A gesture of leadership would improve the morale of frontline medical workers and citizens. For example, when there was a severe and large outbreak of COVID-19 in Dae-gu area, the South Korean prime minister positioned himself in Dae-gu and directed the response to the outbreak there.

South Korea’s experience highlights the importance of cutting the chain of infection in the country by supplying the hospitals and medical personnel with proper equipment and gear, testing and isolating infected citizens from the general population, and encouraging the practice of wearing masks and proper social distancing. In addition, the government has made a conscious effort to create a sense of trust by being transparent and bearing the financial burdens associated with treatment. South Korea has been successful in controling the spread of the virus thus far and their efforts could suggest possible guidelines elsewhere in the world.