Thread by @vicjkim

At a S. Korean gov't briefing on COVID-19 response:

"The gov't is covering the financial costs for related testing and treatment instead of saddling individuals with those expenses. The gov't is also reimbursing medical facilities for losses incurred from imposed quarantines."

South Korea has conducted 190,000 tests thus far, capacity of 15,000 a day.

"If doctors suspect a COVID-19 case, they can proceed with testing without restriction. Of course, the testing is conducted free of charge."

Face masks were a prerequisite for journalists at the presser — no mask, no entry.

An official with the central disease control HQ says the country is proactively testing patients with pneumonia for the coronavirus, for early detection. Because of the country's experience with MERS, they early on set up separate test centers so as to not jeopardize hospitals.

South Korea's number of the infected are still increasing, but by a small margin daily since Feb 28, when more than 900 were diagnosed in a day. On Monday, the country announced 248 more cases, for a total of 7,382. 51 dead.

Tests take a minimum of 6 hours, max within a day, the official says.

South Korea has 50 of these drive-thru testing centers, where the sample collection takes 10 mins.

"Public trust can only be earned and harnessed through full openness and transparency," vice minister of foreign affairs Lee Taeho says.

Lee is also defending South Korea's decision to not impose travel bans on those coming from China early on, for which the government has taken a beating. “Maintaining this policy has been a daunting challenge,” he says, noting that international experts say they aren't effective

The president of the Korea Society of Epidemiology though, cautions against declaring victory just yet, saying neither South Korea nor China, or any other country at this point can claim to have controlled the current outbreak.

He says the biggest on-going challenge is the strain on medical resources the explosive surge in the Daegu area that may have perhaps resulted in some preventable deaths. He's also warning other nations about long-term care facilities for the elderly.

latimes.com/world-nation/s…

Official says the outbreak surrounding the Shincheonji church/sect was analogous to mass-infections on cruise ships elsewhere, but even more challenging without a readily available list of passengers and because the attendees had spread throughout the community.

Aaaaaand a reporter just asked about kimchi & the low mortality rate. #smh

Ski goggles, on the other hand, were not a prerequisite for attending the presser.

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