The World Health Organization has lauded South Korea's response to the novel coronavirus, pointing out that a month ago it was faced with surging community transmission but did not "surrender."
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing Wednesday that infections had been declining for weeks in the country due to its efforts to educate, empower and engage communities.
Dr. Tedros noted how South Korea developed innovative testing strategies, rationed the use of masks, conducted exhaustive contact tracing and testing, and isolated suspected cases.
He stressed that they were working with other virus hit countries to apply the lessons learned in South Korea and elsewhere, and adapt them to the local context.
South Korea and the WHO are jointly working on COVID-19 clinical research in areas of data collection, analysis and information use.
Two consultants from the U.N. health agency, Thomas Fletcher and William Fischer, said they were interested to learn South Korea's experience in containing the virus, including self-quarantine and emergency networking measures.■
<Photo: Yonhap News>
