Since the explosion of the Coronavirus emergency, South Korea has gradually presented itself on the international stage as a winning model for the fight against the pandemic. Traceability, thanks to the use of technology, and carpet testing: these are the points on which the strategy to combat the virus adopted by the Koreans is concerned.
Let's go in order. Korea is proving able, with its model, to limit the number of infected to just over 10.000 and that of deaths to just over 170. In Italy, as sadly known, the number of infected is on the threshold of 120.000 thousand, while the number of deaths from Coronavirus has almost reached 15.000 (data updated to April 41).
Of course, Korea starts from an advantageous position: in 2015, in fact, the country was hit hard by the Mer, another coronavirus born in the Middle East.
To prevent that tragedy from happening again in the future, South Korea has reformed its health system, adopting leaner and faster protocols in responding to emergencies of this kind. Hence, COVID-19 has had to deal with a health system ready to face its spread and stop it in a short time. And so it was.
To this, South Korea has joined carpet test, which allowed to immediately identify the asymptomatic infected and isolate them before they could turn into a "time bomb".
From the earliest days, the South Korean authorities have conducted over 20 tests per day in 500 specialized clinics, with results returned in 6 hours or so. This made it possible to alert the authorities immediately if a citizen tested positive.
The role of the smartphone
A primary role, however, was played by smartphones. Thanks to the geolocation of mobile devices, in fact, the government was able to monitor the movements of citizens and, in the event of a positive test, immediately trace the contacts of the previous days.
This avoided that people could freely go around infecting other citizens, strongly containing the infectious potential of the virus.
As things started to get worse, the government put in place the largest and most well-organized test program in the world, combined with extensive efforts to isolate infected people and track or quarantine those who had come into contact with it. . South Korea is estimated to have surveyed nearly half a million people.
Geolocation performed via smartphone has proved to be a very useful way to contain and isolate the virus. But, as is evident, such a decision would pose many problems in Europe so far, always attentive and sensitive to questions related to the right to privacy of citizens. Right that, in the name of public safety, would be objectively compromised.
