S Korea controls COVID-19 outbreak without any lockdown: Envoy

South Korea is among the countries hit earliest by COVID-19, but now the number of new cases per day has gone down from 900 in February to nearly 90 this week.

South Korea has been showing that a different approach - without a national or regional lockdown and an entry ban - could be an effective way to fight against COVID-19, the country's ambassador to Turkey, Choi Hong-ghi, has told the Hürriyet Daily News.

When was the first case detected and what is the current situation of the pandemic in South Korea?

As the first cased was confirmed on Jan. 19, the Republic of Korea was among the countries hit earliest by COVID-19 with total 9,661 confirmed cases (accumulation) and the total death toll of 158 as of March. 30. However, recently the number of new cases per day has gone down to around 100, after hitting 909 in Feb. 29. Furthermore, the number of patients who fully recovered began to surpass that of the new confirmed cases, and as a result about 54 percent of confirmed patients had already been released.

A unique feature of the COVID-19 infections in Korea is that a large part of confirmed cases has occurred in a specific region (Daegu) and a group (Shincheonji Church) making up each 69 percent, 53 percent of total cases. Also, the once sharp rise of infection cases has been derived from its high capacity to run about 15,000-20,000 COVID tests per day, as well as its ability to conduct intensive epidemiological analysis on high-risk patients.

What are the measures your government has taken so far?

The Korean government's response can be categorized into three areas: Prevention, detection and treatment. The government has been implementing "Special Immigration Procedure" on visitors,...