In light of the pandemic that is going on right now, I have seen several videos about COVID-19 showing up on YouTube. One video that I came across was a video by the YouTube channel, Vox. The video I watched is called The big lesson from South Korea’s coronavirus response. As you can probably guess from the title, this video talked about South Korea’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Early on, South Korea was one of the first countries that had a major outbreak of coronavirus cases. This all began when a patient, known as patient No. 31, went to a megachurch in Daegu. After this huge outbreak happened in Daegu, Korea took immediate action in containing this outbreak. They did something called contact tracing. They have been able to test many people for the virus and have done such a successful job of containing it. They introduced one of the largest and best-organized epidemic control programs in the world. This system involves testing mass populations of the virus and isolate anyone who is infected. Beyond that, the government will trace and quarantine whoever had come in contact with the infected person as well. Although this sounds extreme, it has been very effective for Korea. Contact tracing wasn’t enough either. People who were infected may have moved through the city, touching doors and subway handles, which is another way that the virus could spread. In order to combat this problem, Korea traced the infected person’s footsteps and alerted citizens of their trail and where they have been. These alerts let people know if they have cross paths with an infected person so they can go get tested themselves. This may be giving people less privacy, but it has been a large reason why Korea has been able to contain the virus. Their efforts have led to them being able to test more people than any other country at the time. This has resulted in Korea not having to have aggressive lockdowns, like the ones we are currently experiencing in the United States. Through Korea’s efforts, they have been able to do something that many of the other countries have struggled to do. They’ve been able to bend the curve. I am very impressed by Korea’s response to this pandemic and makes me wish that the United States had taken proper steps like Korea did in preventing the spread of coronavirus.
I think that the way South Korea handled this outbreak shows a lot about their culture. I think that this has really shown the difference between Korean culture and American culture. When Koreans heard from the government about the outbreak, people were very willing to listen the government and self-quarantine, as opposed to some Americans who took it as a joke and had large gatherings. In the video, they mentioned how many Koreans value public health over their privacy. This is something that may sound absurd to an American, since privacy is so highly valued. Even after preventing the first wave of infections, Korea is still alert and taking precautions to prevent a second wave from happening. I think that this attitude by both the government and its citizens are something that is unique to Korea and speaks a lot to their values and culture.
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE-cA4UK07c
Comments
I agree with you Gavin! Korea does have a really different attitude towards this pandemic compared to United States. Contact tracing is a method very unique to Korea and it might be a method only applicable to Korea. I don't see a way to even try that in United States. There are definitely things United States can learn from Korea and I hope situations in both countries improve.
Great post Gavin! I totally agree with you that the way in which the U.S. and South Korea both handled the pandemic greatly revealed their society's cultural differences. Since Korea is a collectivist society, it explains the united upfront shown by the citizens. However, since the U.S. is a individualist society, this could have caused major disputes and differences in opinions about how the pandemic and quarantine should be run.
This post is very interesting Gavin. I actually wrote my cultural post on South Korea's response to the coronavirus too. I like how you pointed out and related the situation to the culture of the Korean people. I also hope and wish that American people can have the same mindset and quarantine during this pandemic to slow the spread of the disease.
Hey Gavin, I also have heard a lot about Korea’s COVID19 status and treatment/containment approach over the news. It’s so devastating and crazy that the outbreak in Korea started with someone who attended a megachurch. I think Korea’s handled the whole pandemic very effectively and have proven to be one of the role model countries. I agree that public health should come first before privacy in some extreme cases such as this one. Obviously, that’s a difficult concept to accept in American culture, but it’s just a different way of thinking. Hopefully, this pandemic dies down soon so that we can return to some normalcy.
Thanks for sharing this post Gavin! I'm also impressed by the way Korea has been handling the covid situation. I believe that the patient contract tracing was beneficial to society as a whole. You mentioned how highly privacy was valued in the U.S. and the Korea buts public health over privacy. I think the fact that Korea is a collectivist society while America is an individualist society also played a role in how the pandemic was first handled.
Hey Gavin, I really enjoyed reading your cultural post. I completely agree with you on how South Korea handled Coronavirus. They were well prepared and for example, were able to test a lot of people when compared to people who have been tested in America and other countries. I also agree with what you said about Korean culture and how it shows the strength of Korea's culture as a whole.