Alongside Italy, Iran and Spain, South Korea swiftly became one of COVID-19's primary initial international footholds outside China. All of those countries are now finally experiencing some success in flattening their curves while the U.S. is still experiencing a devastating surge in deaths and new cases. While the number of U.S. infections has now surged passed one million, South Korea has successfully contained the spread of the virus and flattened its curve. It reported just four new infections on April 30, all of them imported, according to the latest data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is the first time the country has experienced no new domestic cases since February and its election has not resulted in heightened levels of transmission.
The primary reason South Korea has managed to slow the spread of COVID-19 seems to be the government's swift move to roll out widespread and free public testing. The city of Goyang even established an innovative drive-thru testing area during the early stages of the outbreak, a move that has been copied by other countries. South Korea's model of containment has aleady become an example for other badly impacted countries and the latest figures only reinforce views that it has handled the situation admirably.
