Department of Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Department of Social and Behavioral Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Health Syst Reform. 2020 Jan 1;6(1):e1753464. doi: 10.1080/23288604.2020.1753464.
In the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) had the second highest number of cases globally yet was able to dramatically lower the incidence of new cases and sustain a low mortality rate, making it a promising example of strong national response. We describe the main strategies undertaken and selected facilitators and challenges in order to identify transferable lessons for other countries working to control the spread and impact of COVID-19. Identified strategies included early recognition of the threat and rapid activation of national response protocols led by national leadership; rapid establishment of diagnostic capacity; scale-up of measures for preventing community transmission; and redesigning the triage and treatment systems, mobilizing the necessary resources for clinical care. Facilitators included existing hospital capacity, the epidemiology of the COVID-19 outbreak, and strong national leadership despite political changes and population sensitization due to the 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) epidemic. Challenges included sustaining adequate human resources and supplies in high-caseload areas. Key recommendations include (1) recognize the problem, (2) establish diagnostic capacity, (3) implement aggressive measures to prevent community transmission, (4) redesign and reallocate clinical resources for the new environment, and (5) work to limit economic impact through and while prioritizing controlling the spread and impact of COVID-19. South Korea's strategies to prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic represent applicable knowledge that can be adopted by other countries and the global community facing the enormous COVID-19 challenges ahead.
在 COVID-19 大流行的头两个月，韩国（南朝鲜）的病例数居世界第二，但却能显著降低新增病例数并保持低死亡率，成为国家强力应对的一个成功范例。我们描述了所采取的主要策略以及确定的促进因素和挑战，以确定其他国家在努力控制 COVID-19 的传播和影响方面可借鉴的经验教训。所确定的策略包括：及早认识到威胁并迅速启动国家领导层领导的国家应对方案；迅速建立诊断能力；扩大预防社区传播的措施；重新设计分诊和治疗系统，为临床护理调动必要资源。促进因素包括现有医院的能力、COVID-19 疫情的流行病学特征以及尽管发生了政治变动和因 2015 年中东呼吸综合征相关冠状病毒（MERS-CoV）疫情而出现的民众敏感，但仍具有强有力的国家领导。挑战包括在高病例地区维持足够的人力资源和供应。主要建议包括：（1）认识问题；（2）建立诊断能力；（3）实施积极措施以预防社区传播；（4）重新设计和重新分配临床资源以适应新环境；（5）在优先控制 COVID-19 的传播和影响的同时，努力减轻经济影响。韩国在预防、发现和应对大流行方面的策略代表了可被其他国家和全球社会借鉴的适用知识，以应对未来巨大的 COVID-19 挑战。
