European Leaders Requested Help but... "Difficult to Apply South Korea's Quarantine Response"

On the 12th (local time), the third day since an unprecedented nationwide travel restriction was enforced in Italy, where the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading at a frightening pace, a woman wearing a mask is walking down an almost deserted street in Rome.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] European leaders have recently been requesting President Moon Jae-in to share South Korea's experience in combating the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). South Korea's response measures have been recognized as exemplary in epidemic control. However, voices are emerging that other countries may find it difficult to apply South Korea's domestic measures to their own situations.

Walter Ricciardi, an advisor to the Italian Ministry of Health, said in an interview with the daily newspaper La Repubblica on the 21st (local time), "The more I look at the COVID-19 graphs of Italy and South Korea, the more convinced I am that we should follow South Korea's response strategy," adding, "With the health minister's consent, I will propose that Italy adopt this approach as well."

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also expressed willingness to participate first in COVID-19 research led by South Korean researchers and has begun establishing response measures. The WHO clinical team and COVID-19 advisory committee, who made an emergency visit to South Korea at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, said, "We came to learn how South Korea handled the virus."

However, there are three major obstacles to other countries utilizing South Korea's measures as their own. Although South Korea's approach does not involve complex technology or high costs, The New York Times argued that countries with more severe situations may find it difficult to apply these measures.

First, there is a low level of government will. The New York Times stated that many countries hesitate to take related measures until the outbreak reaches a crisis level. In fact, the UK government faced criticism after Prime Minister Boris Johnson suddenly said on the 12th, "More families will lose loved ones to COVID-19," following a virtually no-response strategy based on "building herd immunity."

Second, the level of public cooperation may not reach that of South Korea. South Korea's social trust level is high worldwide, but major Western countries such as Italy are suffering from conflicts and resistance. The New York Times noted, "South Koreans generally accepted that epidemic control measures might infringe on privacy," adding, "Those in self-quarantine download mobile applications to report their status."

Lastly, rapid response is crucial. It is difficult to take fast and efficient measures as South Korea has done amid the pandemic. Referring to South Korea's diagnostic testing speed being more than 40 times faster than that of the United States, The New York Times evaluated, "This is why South Korea conducted more diagnostic tests than any other country," and "It enabled rapid medical treatment and quick self-quarantine in the early stages of infection."

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