For the first time since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic South Korea’s daily Covid-19 cases crossed 100,000 last week, after the authorities decided to ease restrictions before the upcoming presidential election on March 9.

Even though Omicron cases had been surging exponentially, the government, led by President Moon Jae-in had to lift some restrictions as there had been backlash from small business owners and a growing disgruntlement of public over the government’s heavy-handed intervention to control Covid-19.

Next month’s election perhaps forced the president rethink the strategy as the owners of small business and those who are self-employed have become desperate. He called his aides to pass a new budget with an aim of “resolving the difficulties of the people’s livelihoods”.

South Korea has been an epitome of success in fighting Covid-19, along with New Zealand and the Nordic countries. However, South Korea stands out even among these success stories because it has been able to contain the virus with minimum number of deaths without imposing any full lockdown.

It developed the strategy very early as it had learnt from its past experiences with outbreaks of H1N1 virus (2009) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS) which had overwhelmed the public health system and caught the government off guard. That key to the success of the strategy were three Ts: more “tests”, “tracing” of contacts through sophisticated technology and quick “treatment” of patients under government monitoring.

But with fast growing number of patients and public’s fatigue with strict restrictions the government shifted to a more “hands-off” approach. Now people who test positive have been asked to fend for themselves at home.

But, for a large number of people, especially those who are poor, the new strategy has left somewhat abandoned, as they have become used to government’s handholding. Some say they are neither getting government guidelines, nor the essential commodities—such as oximeters—in time.

READ MORE: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/17/world/asia/south-korea-covid-spread.html


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/02/south-korea-resilient-covid-deaths/622085/

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/2/18/south-korea-extends-business-curfew-as-covid-19-cases-top-100000