The COVID-19 Outbreak in South Korea: Lessons to Be Learned

Abstract

The Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel type of coronavirus-related disease that has over 4 million confirmed cases worldwide as of May 13th, 2020. With over 200 countries impacted by the pandemic, many countries have taken drastic measures such as temporary closure of international borders. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the South Korean response to COVID-19 and the keys to successful containment of the disease. Real time analysis was performed on data provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Comparisons of disease containment among countries with the highest confirmed cases were normalized for population size differences by taking the proportion of confirmed cases to population size. We further compared the disease outbreak in Seoul, a very urban environment, to the whole country of South Korea, to compare public health in urban and rural environments. We found that the efficient partnership between the private sector and the state led to rapid development in testing kits, which was integral to the South Korean response to COVID-19. In addition, the South Koreans’ community spirit, approval of government-led interventions, and societal norm of wearing masks were also efficient social responses to the spreading disease. In this paper, we navigate the impacts of a universal healthcare system and its ability to battle infectious diseases and the efficacy of various governmental actions in response to a public health crisis.