Military officials carry out a disinfection operation at an elementary school in Daegu, located 300 kilometers south of Seoul, on April 21, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s health authorities have cited early testing and the country’s public health insurance system as reasons for the lower fatality rate caused by the coronavirus outbreak compared to other countries.
Kwon Joon-wook, deputy director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), said in a regular briefing Saturday at the KCDC headquarters in Osong, North Chungcheong Province that the reason for the low fatality rate in the country is largely due to early screening and reporting.
“The role of medical staff in directly treating patients was also significant,” he added.
“At the same time, we believe that the role of the medical system, including strengthened domestic health insurance coverage, the ratio of total number of beds to the population, and low threshold to access medical institutions have played a critical role in the battle against COVID-19, compared to other countries.”
“We will continue to do our best to prepare various supplies and conditions so that medical institutions can treat patients in the future,” Kwon said.
Meanwhile, as of April 25, the average fatality rate of COVID-19 in South Korea was 2.24 percent, the lowest among 16 countries with more than 10,000 infected people with the exception of Russia.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
