The Virus Hunter Showing the World How to Fight an Epidemic
- Korean CDC head hero at home for test-driven response
- South Korea may be a model for slowing disease’s spread
As South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak risked veering out of control, with infections rising thirty-fold in just ten days last month, the country’s health authorities got an unexpected break. The secretive religious sect whose meetings were early vectors for spreading the virus had agreed to disclose the names of all 212,000 members -- critical information for figuring out where it would appear next.
The deal was brokered, in part, by Jung Eun-kyeong, the head of Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose management of the response has made her something of a national hero, and a potential role model for virus-fighters elsewhere. Since the agreement with the Shincheonji Church of Jesus on Feb. 25, South Korea has tested more than 320,000 people, a diagnostic blitzkrieg that’s brought the daily tally of new infections to less than 100, compared with more than 900 two weeks ago.