Why South Korea, not Iran, is a model for U.S. coronavirus response
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THE PROGNOSIS
South Korean police officers stand in line in front of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu. (Yonhap News Agency/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
A stark contrast in the coronavirus mortality rates in South Korea and Iran show how critical a government’s response can be in determining whether the disease is stymied or spread.
Public health experts say they want to ensure the U.S. outcome turns out more like the former.
“Will we take the tough actions to mitigate spread or will we let this spread like the flu?” Scott Gottlieb, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, wrote me. “I think we will end up somewhere in between. Not helpless like Iran but not as aggressive and swift as South Korea.”
South Korea has managed to dramatically arrest the spread. It’s conducting more tests per person than any other country in the world, with about 15,000 people getting tested every day. Four companies are providing test kits to 118 facilities where people …continued .
[Source: Washington Post]
