Why Have the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore Coped Well with COVID-19 and What Are the Lessons Learned from Their Experiences?

This study investigated how three Asian countries-Republic of Korea (ROK), Republic of China (Taiwan), and Singapore-considered as standouts, responded to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in terms of governance system, health sector innovation, and social distancing to draw lessons that other countries can learn from. The countries were commonly in success of the response in early stage of the pandemic thanks to their effective and efficient strategies paired with advanced information and communications technology (ICT). Consequently, the three jurisdictions reported lower confirmed cases as well as fatality rate of the infectious disease compared to other high-income countries. In addition, the countries' previous experiences with other pandemics, including influenza A, Middle East respiratory syndrome, and severe acute respiratory syndrome, enabled them to establish resilient public health systems and gain public acceptance to governmental control or surveillance during national infectious disease-related crises outbreaks. Advanced ICT infrastructure and digital technology were used as effective tools for testing, tracing, and treatment of the pandemic in collaboration with the private sector as a crucial player. The ROK, Taiwan, and Singapore adopted different strategies between containment and mitigation policy to flatten the epidemic curves effectively according to their own situation and judgement. Despite the exemplary aspect of the three nations in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, a few limitations were also observed in terms of vaccination and unequal consequences of the pandemic among people. These should be further discussed in order to be prepared for future pandemics.

Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Republic of Korea from the Perspective of Governance and Public-Private Partnership.

The government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) has established relevant laws and a master plan for infectious disease control and prevention based on their experiences with past epidemics. In addition, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has designed a standard manual for risk management that involves pan-governmental crisis management systems. This national infectious disease management system is constantly being supplemented and developed in face of infectious disease-related crises. In this study, we set out to present directions for infectious disease prevention and flow of management and governance between central and local governments to ensure systematic quarantine activities in the ROK. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, public-private partnerships have been established to collect, provide, process, and disseminate information for effective quarantine. This has enabled the development and rapid approval of test kits, the tracking of cases, and the allocation of appropriate resources for patient treatment. Additionally, the Infectious Disease Control Agency has actively utilized information and communication technology platforms to disclose information necessary in real-time for COVID-19 quarantine and management. Overall, these efforts have played an important role in epidemiological investigations, patient management, and quarantine in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.