How South Korea has used tech to successfully contain COVID-19 – Business Insider – Business Insider

In Seoul, South Korea, much of daily life has returned to normal despite the coronavirus pandemic restaurants, shopping malls, and parks have been filled in recent weeks as the South Korean government started winding down social distancing measures.

It's one of the first countries in the world to bring a major COVID-19 outbreak under control. Cases in South Korea peaked at 909 on Feb. 28 and have gradually diminished since, and the current death toll from coronavirus is 236, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The country has controlled COVID-19 by rapidly scaling up testing as well as relying on other high-tech solutions: A government app tracks the location of all new visitors to the country; people who violate quarantine have to wear a location-tracking bracelet; "smart city" tech is being deployed to bolster contact tracing networks.

"We are in a lengthy tug of war with the coronavirus," Health Minister Park Neung-hoo told Reuters in April, adding that such measures may need to remain in place for months or years.

The success of Asia's fourth-largest economy could serve as a lesson to other countries, like the US. While there are clear differences between the two nations for one, South Korea's single-payer healthcare system makes testing and treatment free for all citizens the US is still in the process of scaling up testing and exploring how best to deploy contact tracing networks on a state-by-state basis.

Here's a look at some of the cutting-edge technology being used to fight COVID-19 in South Korea.

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