South Korea's government worries that widespread testing will not be enough to stop new clusters of covid-19 emerging
A GROUP OF young people sit around a table in a bar, immersed in animated conversation. A man and a woman sit in the window of a coffee shop and share bites of a large slice of cream cake. A handful of people in face masks and office attire emerge from a side street and say their goodbyes before disappearing down the stairs into the subway station. In normal times such scenes would hardly merit a mention.
This was invaluable when an enormous cluster of cases emerged in the city of Daegu, centred around a messianic cult. Members of the Shincheonji church pray crammed together for hours during their services, providing an ideal environment for the new coronavirus to spread. Of the country’s 9,661 currently confirmed cases, more than half are linked to the cult. Its founder claims to be descended from Korean kings and to possess the ability to foresee the apocalypse.
In combination, those measures slowed the spread of the virus sufficiently that South Korea did not have to resort to the more coercive lockdowns that America and many European governments have implemented over the past few weeks. South Korea has registered around 100 new cases every day for the past three weeks, with only occasional spikes, and a total of 158 deaths.
The main reason that South Korea responded so quickly to the initial outbreak is its recent bad experience with MERS, another coronavirus, which killed 38 people in the country in 2015. “We were hit hard by MERS because we failed to supply diagnostic kits in time,” says Hong Ki-ho, director of laboratory medicine at Seoul Medical Centre and a member of the country’s covid-19 taskforce.
Indonesia Berita Terbaru, Indonesia Berita utama
Similar News:Anda juga dapat membaca berita serupa dengan ini yang kami kumpulkan dari sumber berita lain.
South Korea to pay families hundreds of dollars to ease coronavirus impactSouth Korea will make emergency cash payments to all but the richest families and draw up a second supplementary budget next month in a bid to ease the drawn-out economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, President Moon Jae-in said on Monday.
Baca lebih lajut »
South Korea to pay cash to families, bring in extra budget reliefSouth Korea will make an emergency cash payment to most families and draw up a second supplementary budget next month in a bid to ease the drawn-out economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, President Moon Jae-in said on Monday.
Baca lebih lajut »
South Korea shoe cobbler donates for needy amid coronavirus“An angel': A South Korean shoe repairman plans to donate parts of his property to help support people facing economic difficulties amid the coronavirus outbreak. Part of AP's One Good Thing series of stories about acts of kindness during the crisis.
Baca lebih lajut »
Carmaker Renault: all plants closed apart from in China and South KoreaFrench carmaker Renault said production at all its plants across the world had been halted due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis, apart from its plants in China and South Korea.
Baca lebih lajut »
K-Pop Industry Moves Forward as South Korea Controls Coronavirus SpreadEven with South Korea’s live music sector still largely shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak, the K-pop world is buzzing to life with the arrival of new music. Some of the world’s biggest musical acts have postponed plans to release music for months to come, but it’s business as usual when it comes to K-pop releases.
Baca lebih lajut »
North Korea says US clearly doesn't want nuclear talksNorth Korea says “reckless remarks” by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo make it clear that Washington has no intention of resuming nuclear talks
Baca lebih lajut »