코로나 100일...위기와 극복의 순간들

Of course that battle wasn't without hiccups... it was full of bumps, small and big along the way.
How this country flattened the curve and is keeping it flat.
Here's Lee Kyung-eun.
A month into the outbreak, things seemed to be getting out of control.
“There was a moment of national crisis when the number of newly confirmed cases peaked at 8-hundred-13 daily while a total of 7-thousand-470 were being treated.”
Mounting public fears triggered a nationwide rush for face masks.
And South Korea introduced a 5-day rotation system in early-March,...which allows people to buy face masks only on designated days depending on the last digit of their birth year.
At around the same time, group infections popped up in various parts of the country, and the government declared an intense social distancing campaign on March 22nd.
It meant opening schools "online" and implementing strict measures to prevent the spread of the disease during the general election.
The collective efforts paid off, bringing down the number of new infections dramatically,... to the 50 range in early April,... and into the low teens toward the end of the month.
Throughout the prolonged battle, South Korea has continuously advanced its containment efforts, or what's now dubbed the "K-quarantine model".
Along with the innovative drive-thru and walk-thru testing sites,... the government created temporary care centers for patients with mild symptoms to free up more hospital beds for severe patients.
Also, it developed a self-quarantine app and wrist band to monitor those in self-isolation more effectively.
But despite successfully flattening the curve, health officials remain on high-alert for the upcoming holiday period.
Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News.