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How 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

by bsaul 7y ago

How 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 ago
Seegene, 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 ago
As 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.
- sairion 7y ago
  The more important factor is MERS, which SK seriously suffered a few years ago, (36 people killed) which was the highest fatality outside Middle East.
  - ncallaway 7y ago
    Totally fair and a good point.
hokkos 7y ago
Because 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 ago
Extensive 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 ago
Because South Korea has the best medical systems in the entire world?

by bsaul 7y ago

asjw 7y ago

Seegene, 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 ago

As 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.

sairion 7y ago
The more important factor is MERS, which SK seriously suffered a few years ago, (36 people killed) which was the highest fatality outside Middle East.
- ncallaway 7y ago
  Totally fair and a good point.

hokkos 7y ago

Because 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 ago

Extensive 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 ago

Because South Korea has the best medical systems in the entire world?