Korea is seeking effective ways to help Bangladesh tackle the potential widespread outbreak : Hu Kang-il

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Bangladesh, Hu Kang-il

The Republic of Korea has displayed notable success in tackling coronavirus, though 186 have died and over 10,000 have been infected so far. In an interview with Prothom Alo, the Korean Republic ambassador to Bangladesh, Hu Kang-il, speaks about the strategy his country adopted against coronavirus and the experience they have had in this regard

Q: What is the latest state of the coronavirus epidemic in South Korea?

Hu Kang-il : The COVID-19 epidemic in Korea has so far been largely concentrated in a specific region of the country and within a specific religious group. Concerted efforts by health authorities in February and early March to exhaustively test and isolate those at high-risk resulted in a surge of hundreds of new cases being identified daily for some time. However, by quickly identifying those infected through exhaustive testing and aggressively tracking down their contacts to prevent further spread of the virus, the situation has been stabilised.

The number of newly confirmed cases per day has been showing steady decline since hitting a peak at 909 new cases on 29 February. Since March 15 when the number first fell below 100, the average number of newly confirmed cases per day has fluctuated around this level. On 28 March, the number of patients fully cured and released surpassed those still remaining in care.

Despite the encouraging trend, we continue to remain vigilant as there are sporadic spikes in group/community transmissions in various parts of the country, as well as an increase in COVID-19 cases among recent overseas travellers.

Q: How was the ‘Korean model’ developed by your experts to fight against COVID-19? Was it the outcome of government-private partnership?

Hu Kang-il : Rigorous testing lies at the core of our control strategy for the COVID-19 epidemic. With the testing capacity of up to 20,000 tests per day, we have performed a total of more than 440,000 tests so far.

Throughout this process, the Korean government and the private sector have been working very closely together. Fast-track authorisation of test-kits produced by biotech companies while maintaining the highest performance standards, rapid transfer of technology to relevant sectors, and efficient networking of public and private institutions have all contributed to successfully containing and limiting the damages in Korea. Currently, tests are conducted at 118 testing institutions across the country, including the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 National Quarantine Stations, 18 Research Institutes of Public Health and Environment, and 95 private medical laboratories and hospitals.

Q. Would you kindly share your experience when you first approached the religious groups for testing those who were infected?

Hu Kang-il :The COVID-19 outbreak in Korea began in early February, and has spread rapidly among the members of the Shincheonji Church in Daegu. Since then, the estimated 9,300 members of the church in Daegu have been placed on self-quarantine and tested. All other members of the Church around the country – more than a quarter-million – have mostly been tracked, questioned, and tested when they report symptoms. As of 30 March, 58.7% of confirmed cases are linked to Shincheonji Church and 82% are residents of Daegu/North Gyeongsang Province.

Q: Are there practices/innovative steps you would like to share, or advice that you think Bangladesh should follow as it has extended its ‘holiday’ duration?

Hu Kang-il : Korea’s COVID-19 control strategy consists of robust testing to identify confirmed cases, tracing their contacts to prevent further spread, and treating those infected at the earliest possible stage, while actively engaging the public to participate in social-distancing and other preventive measures.

One of the innovative methods that the Korean medical community adopted was ‘Drive-through Testing Stations’. By allowing drivers to go through the testing process without having to leave their vehicles, we could reduce the time needed for sample-collection to less than 10 minutes and also limit the exposure of frontline medical workers. As of late March, there are 79 drive-through testing stations in operation nationwide.

It is encouraging that the government of Bangladesh is making use of all available resources to tackle this formidable challenge. Prime minister Hasina has made a comprehensive 31-point directive last weekend, and I believe it is extremely important that everyone does his/her part to limit further spread of the virus and to minimize the side effects of the shutdown to the local economy and welfare of the people.

Q: China says they have a model to deal with pandemics like COVID-19. What are your strategies which allow you to promptly reach the remote villages?

Hu Kang-il : With the Korean prime minister chairing the Central Crisis Management Committee, all relevant ministries of the government as well as the seventeen provinces and major cities engage in the whole-of-government fight against COVID-19. Local authorities have been cooperating closely with the central government in terms of sending out coordinated messages to the general public and promptly allocating necessary resources to those in need.

Q: Do you have any open knowledge sharing or ‘technology transfer’ so that other nations could develop the testing kits in a lower price?

Hu Kang-il : While exerting every effort to curb the epidemic domestically, the Korean government is prudently reviewing the numerous requests from partner countries for test kits, PPEs, and financial support. We are looking for ways to share best practices and technical expertise with our allies and partners, because we are all in this together.

Q: How many new labs and hospitals (100% filled by COVID-19 patients) have you established and how many people trained as technologists to run the labs? Is all the testing conducted in a ‘negative pressure room’?

Hu Kang-il : To protect healthcare institutions from COVID-19 contamination during specimen collection and to prevent cross-infections between patients, we set up separate, isolated ‘screening centers’ at public health centers and healthcare institutions nationwide that are exclusively dedicated to serving those that either have had contact with confirmed cases or are displaying symptoms associated with COVID-19. There are 635 screening centers in operation nationwide.

In addition, we designated 67 ‘infectious disease hospitals’ to accommodate exclusively COVID-19 patients and transferred existing inpatients to other institutions. Also, we established a Patient Management System comprised of a network of medical professionals that categorizes COVID-19 patients into four groups: mild, moderate, severe and extremely severe. Patients with mild symptoms are being accommodated under quarantine in temporarily repurposed corporate and public training facilities and are monitored by healthcare staff at least twice a day for symptoms. There are 139 such ‘mild case treatment centers’ in operation with 14,503 available rooms.

Q: How does your civil society and media view the methods of openness and transparency adopted by your government?

Hu Kang-il : The Korean government is fully committed to sharing information on COVID-19 developments and the government’s policy in a prompt and transparent manner, both domestically and internationally. Since day one, Korea’s health authorities have been holding press briefings twice a day. These briefings are live-streamed online with simultaneous interpretation into English for international viewers. We believe that such open and transparent measures by the government have helped alleviate legitimate concerns of the general public and reduce the risk of people falling victim to false rumors.

Q: How is Bangladesh and Korea cooperating and sharing information regarding the novel coronavirus ? Has Bangladesh made specific requests for testing kits/ medical equipment so far?

Hu Kang-il : Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the governments of Bangladesh and Korea have been communicating closely with respect to their domestic situations, immigration and aviation policies, and possible measures to jointly tackle the challenge. As I mentioned earlier, the Korean government is actively sharing the lessons learned with our partners including Bangladesh, and at the same time seeking effective ways to help Bangladesh secure necessary medical equipment in preparation for a potential widespread outbreak.

Q: How many South Korean nationals are stranded in Bangladesh, and needing to be evacuated?

Hu Kang-il : There are around 1,000 Korean nationals residing in Bangladesh. While we are closely monitoring the developments in the host country, there is currently no official evacuation order for Korean expatriates in Bangladesh. The Korean embassy in Dhaka maintains close communication and coordination with the Koreans’ Association in Bangladesh as well as the Bangladeshi government to ensure the safety of our fellow Koreans.

Q: What kind of impact has the virus had on the functioning of South Korean companies located in Bangladesh, and what sort of assistance would they like from the Government of Bangladesh?

In compliance with the Bangladeshi government’s directives to temporarily shut down all private offices, most Korean companies located in Bangladesh, many of them in the RMG sector, have ceased operations in their factories. As is the case with the majority of local industries during this economic downturn, these Korean companies face the risk of liquidity crisis as the government holidays is prolonged. In this regard, it is imperative that the Korean companies be eligible for tax breaks and financial stimulus packages such as low-interest loans, so that they do not go out of business and continue to contribute to the Bangladesh economy.