5 ms·
"So far, successful mitigaions in China/Korea have involved near-complete shutdown, very early in the epidemic, around the time of 100 confirmed cases." From w
by raspasov 7y ago
"So far, successful mitigaions in China/Korea have involved near-complete shutdown, very early in the epidemic, around the time of 100 confirmed cases."
From what I read, South Korea shut down almost nothing but had widespread testing available, including drive-through testing where people could sit in their car, get tested and receive the results via SMS next day. They also had the ability to very proactively search and locate people that had been potentially exposed to the virus via credit card transaction/location data.
- cma 7y agoSchools were shut down very early on in the outbreak region I believe.
- bsaul 7y agoHow is it possible that SK has performed such an extensive testing, while other developped country state they don't have the technical ability to do more than a few thousands tests a week.. Did SK developp its own technics and device for testing ??
- asjw 7y agoSeegene, a private company, did https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/asia/coronavirus-south-korea-testing-intl-hnk/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/asia/coronavirus-south-korea-...
- JumpCrisscross 7y ago> How is it possible that SK has performed such an extensive testing They made it an institutional priority. Other governments prioritized messaging and fiscal measures over medical action. > Did SK developp its own technics and device for testing Yes, but so did a number of other countries [1]. Seoul had no "secret sauce" [2]. Just institutional attention and competence. [1] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30551-1/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6... [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31987001?dopt=Abstract https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31987001?dopt=Abstract
- ncallaway 7y agoAs others have said, nothing magic other than focused attention. South Korea and Singapore both were hit by the original SARS epidemic, and learned important lessons from it. They're applied those lessons now, for this SARS 2. Other countries weren't as affected by SARS, and so didn't take as many lessons away from it. When this came, many were caught flat-footed. Some countries (like the United States) were even less-prepared than being flat-footed.
- hokkos 7y agoBecause you need high throughput machine or it is a very slow manual process. Such machine like the FilmArray from Biomérieux or the GeneXpert from Cepheid will only have their covid 19 add-on at the end of march, for the Cobas from Roche only now. When Korean had the homegrown Seegene one very quickly
- freeflight 7y agoExtensive testing needs the appropriate lab infrastructure and governance decisions to properly utilize them. Germany is another example of how to do that [0] [0] https://apnews.com/ad9a6af47c3b55fd83080c9168afaaf4 https://apnews.com/ad9a6af47c3b55fd83080c9168afaaf4
- seoulsubway 7y agoBecause South Korea has the best medical systems in the entire world?
- Nightshaxx 7y agoBut SK also published that location data online for all to see, something the US cannot do because HIPPA. People would make fun of those with the virus, such as one man who was tracked to a hotel associated with prostitution.
- vinniejames 7y agoPublic safety aught to trump HIPPA
- gerdesj 7y agoNo it should not. People are a bit tricksy over this thing and a lynch mob is not out of the question. That way lies murder.
- hk__2 7y agoHIPPA is about public safety.
- djsumdog 7y agoSo should we publish lists of everyone who is HIV+ in our cities?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- vinniejames 7y agoThat didn't take long... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22613426 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22613426
- whatshisface 7y agoHow did that help, and was it necessary?
- yongjik 7y agoIt works roughly like this: Patient number #xxx, diagnosed today. Last Monday, he used a taxi (11:30-12:00) to visit McDonalds next to Hongdae station (12:00-12:50) and then walked to Woori bank nearby (1:30-2:00) and used another taxi to go home. Next Tuesday... blah blah... And then you find out the taxi drivers, all the McDonalds workers, and everybody who used McDonalds and the bank at the same time, and tell them to go self-quarantine for two weeks. And also test them. The idea is basically catch all the virus before it has a chance to run into more people. It does help that Koreans carry cell phones and use credit cards everywhere. (And, yes it does raise the question about privacy - which is something we should revisit once the emergency is over.)
- benkuhn 7y agoSouth Korea had no mandatory shutdown, but according to Suki Kim nearly the entire city of Daegu voluntarily self-quarantined shortly after Patient 31 was confirmed positive. (Source: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-south-korea-lost-control-of-its-coronavirus-outbreak https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-south-korea-los... plus personal communication)
- endogui 7y agoSK has also instituted widespread work from home, closed schools, and people voluntarily wear masks and cancel events. Daegu was a ghost town for at least 2 weeks after patient 31 was detected, because each citizen decided to minimize activity.