"Reliable COVID-19 Information in Korea"... Praised for Rapid and Mass Testing

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sunmi] South Korea's response to COVID-19 is receiving encouraging evaluations from outside. Rapid diagnosis is enhancing the accurate understanding of COVID-19, and the decreasing trend of new confirmed cases in South Korea is also drawing attention.

On the 5th (local time), Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that more than 140,000 people in South Korea have undergone COVID-19 diagnostic tests so far, praising the rapid and proactive COVID-19 testing efforts as helpful in obtaining accurate COVID-19 information.

The COVID-19 fatality rate reported by South Korea is about 0.6%. This shows a significant difference from the global average fatality rate of 3.4% announced by the World Health Organization (WHO). Regarding this, SCMP stated, "Various factors can influence fatality rate calculations, but experts commonly agree that the fatality rate calculated from testing many people has higher accuracy." This means that the fatality rate announced in South Korea is the most reliable information.

SCMP also expressed surprise at South Korea's COVID-19 testing speed. After the first confirmed case on January 20, about 8,000 suspected patients were tested within a month, and now about 10,000 people are tested daily. It highlighted that in neighboring Japan, fewer than 2,000 people are tested daily, meaning testing is conducted only on a very limited number. It also noted that in the United States, where confirmed cases are rapidly increasing recently, fewer than 500 people have been tested, praising South Korea's rapid and large-scale COVID-19 testing efforts as providing valuable data for COVID-19 experts.

Professor David Hui Shu-Cheng, a respiratory expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, explained, "If more people can be tested regardless of symptoms, COVID-19 information such as fatality rates can become more accurate," adding, "Most countries are focusing on testing hospitalized patients who are already in serious condition, which results in higher COVID-19 fatality rates."

The decreasing trend of new confirmed cases in South Korea is also receiving encouraging evaluations. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mentioned on this day, "It appears that newly reported COVID-19 cases in South Korea are decreasing, and reported cases are mainly identified within already known clusters," expressing the opinion that "encouraging signs are visible in South Korea."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.