Bill Gates: "South Korea's COVID-19 Response Is the Best"

Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand Also Recognized as Model Quarantine Countries

▲Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (MS) [Image source=AP News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and chairman of the charitable organization 'Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,' praised South Korea for its response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), saying "South Korea did the best."

On the 20th (local time), in an interview with Bill Gates conducted via video call and released by the British economic weekly The Economist, when asked if there were any countries that handled COVID-19 particularly well or showed an impressive level of response, he named South Korea first.

Gates said, "There was a stark difference among countries affected by COVID-19," adding, "South Korea had some infections, but it took contact tracing and adherence to quarantine guidelines very seriously, leading to behavioral changes."

He continued, "Thanks to that, South Korea was able to maintain very low numbers of confirmed cases and deaths."

Gates also mentioned South Korea again as a model country while explaining the reasons why the spread of COVID-19 in the United States got out of control.

He praised, "Unlike the United States, the South Korean government mobilized private companies to ramp up quarantine efforts at full speed."

He also analyzed that South Korea’s prior experience with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) helped in its swift response.

However, it is known that this interview with Gates was conducted before the outbreak of cluster infections originating from churches in South Korea.

Along with South Korea, Gates named Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand as exemplary countries in quarantine efforts.

He praised, "Vietnam may already have some immunity to the COVID-19 virus, but its healthcare system worked well enough that the first death only occurred recently."

Gates analyzed that Asian countries where COVID-19 began generally performed better than expected, but Europe, the United States, and South America experienced severe outbreaks.

Regarding the African continent, he expressed concern about the damage caused by vulnerable healthcare systems, noting that even the extent of virus spread is not yet understood.

Regarding China, Gates evaluated, "Although the initial response to stop the spread was insufficient, China was successful in suppressing the virus afterward."

He pointed out, "The country where the virus first appeared inevitably has a high number of infections because it faces the situation without any warning, but it is clear that China made mistakes."

Gates explained that China had warning signs about COVID-19 circulating publicly but did not investigate them attentively until December and even early January, nor did it send stronger warning signals to the international community.

He concluded, "Although it is typically an authoritarian approach, China did very well in suppressing the virus."

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