Testing on the move: South Korea's rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic

The emergence of COVID-19 in South Korea, and the public and private sector response to it, serves as a valuable case study for countries facing similar outbreaks. This article focuses on how Korean health officials implemented drive-through and walk-through diagnostic testing, and extensive movemen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transportation research interdisciplinary perspectives 2020-05, Vol.5, p.100111-100111, Article 100111
Main Authors: Lee, David, Lee, Jaehong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Contact tracing
Coronavirus
COVID-19
Drive-through testing
Mobile applications
Movement tracking
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Summary:The emergence of COVID-19 in South Korea, and the public and private sector response to it, serves as a valuable case study for countries facing similar outbreaks. This article focuses on how Korean health officials implemented drive-through and walk-through diagnostic testing, and extensive movement and contact tracing, to identify and inform exposed members of the public. Mobile applications from both government agencies and private developers played an important role in guiding people to testing centers, communicating movement trajectories of confirmed cases on digital maps, and tracking the health and movements of travelers and others at risk of exposure. This case study illustrates the importance of rapid adaptation of transportation infrastructure and location-based information technology to respond to public health crises, and how governments can learn from experimentation and past experience to accelerate these responses.
ISSN:2590-1982
2590-1982
DOI:10.1016/j.trip.2020.100111