BBC One's investigative documentary series "Panorama" on March 22 aired the episode "Covid: Who Got It Right?" reviewing government responses to the pandemic in five steps. (Screenshot from BBC website).
Photos = Screenshots from BBC website
The BBC has hailed Korea as a country that uses exemplary strategies for combating the coronavirus.
BBC One's investigative documentary series "Panorama" on March 22 aired the episode "Covid: Who Got It Right?" reviewing the policies pursued by governments worldwide in five steps. Korea's "preparation" (step one) and "test, track and trace" (step two) were featured.
Noting how Korea used the lessons from its 2015 MERS outbreak to bolster the nation's preparedness for and response to a public health emergency, the documentary said "this paid off," adding, "When coronavirus hit, officials were able to flatten the epidemic curve quickly, without closing businesses or implementing stricter stay-at-home restrictions nationally."
The country's strict two-week quarantine for foreign arrivals, an app that tracks the movements of those in quarantine and six check-up calls from authorities during the quarantine period were cited as examples of excellent preparation.
A graph compares the number of daily COVID-19 cases in the U.K. versus that in Korea.
Discussing Korea's "test, track and trace" (3T) method, the program said, "Here, people don't even need to enter the building -- they're tested at arm's-length in a special fully-sealed booth. The hospital processes all its own tests on site and the results are usually available within four or five hours."
"In the U.K. it can take a day or more."
Next, it added, a "track-and-trace team follows up on every suspected case. The team can be forensic with the detail and has access to credit card and mobile phone data. It monitors CCTV throughout the district, sending teams out into the community to scour the streets when it sees something that concerns it."
"(Korean) Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun took personal charge of the situation before the country even had a confirmed case of Covid, giving priority to the three T's -- test, track and trace."
He told the program in an interview, "By applying that strategy we've achieved a good, meaningful result," adding, "The death toll in South Korea, a country of 52 million people, stands at 1,693."
In addition to Korea, "Panorama" highlighted quarantine support (step three) in Kerala, India, measures to protect the elderly (step four) in the town of Tubingen in Baden Wurttemberg, Germany, and the vaccination strategy (step five) of the U.K. that saw "extraordinary success with its vaccine program"
hlee10@korea.kr
