Thread by @USofDisaster

How To Protect Your Population from Disaster, a brief narrative . . .
I live in South Korea. Last night at 9:50pm we got a text from my son's elementary school. A COVID case had been reported--one of the students had tested positive.
@gregggonsalves @chrislhayes

2. This morning all the kids in classes that are close to the infected child's classroom (shared classroom, bathroom, same floor) got tested. My son went to a municipal testing center for a free test.

3. Today my son is at home--the school pivoted to online instruction--as he (and the other kids in affected classes) await test results later today.

4. Now I'm a little anxious honestly because they aren't vaccinating 5-11 year olds here in South Korea yet. I have my own feelings about that--I hope the government enables these vaccinations soon. But everyone else in my house is vaccinated. Boosters coming next month.

5. So we wait for the results & hope for the best for all these children. But think about this a second: a single confirmed case in a school initiates a well established process of "trace and test"--and within 24 hours the school leadership can make a decision on how to proceed.

6. No one picketed the school or the testing center demanding that the students not be forced to get tested. I doubt (I can't be sure of course) that anyone wrote angry emails to the school principal demanding not to be contacted with such information.

7. Also no one's civil rights have been infringed--it's treated the same as you would treat any other sort of shared concern--figure out what happened, take steps to make sure everyone is safe--then get back to school, to play, to life.

8. South Korea is a vigorous, prosperous democracy w/ a free press & plenty of disagreements on lots of things. But they have made "test and trace" into an art form--beautiful in its precision and in the collaborative nature of the performance. We all want the best for our kids.

9. Establishing these protocols early in the disaster was key in South Korea--let them took root as a shared part of the culture--make it common sense (which it is anyway!)

10. Everyone wears masks here indoors+outdoors & yet somehow the democracy still thrives! This is what learning from disaster looks like. Policymakers in the USA must look closely at what works in other democracies & not accept the idea that Americans "just won't do that." /end

11. PS: test came back negative. Entire process from school text to test result was 16 hours.

PPS: He's back in class today. He has activities with friends after school. I'm at work. The system works.