Republic of Korea July 2020 Overcoming COVID-19 in Daegu: The path nobody taught us International Affairs & Trade Division Table of Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1. Daegu’s Response to COVID-19 .................................................... 5 1.1. Safety Nets and Countermeasures in Public Health ---------------------------------------5 1.2. Economic Impact and Measures Which Sustained Daegu’s Economy ----------------12 1.3. Challenges in Education and Its Breakthrough -------------------------------------------15 1.4. Leadership of City Government ------------------------------------------------------------17 1.5. International Partnership -------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 Chapter 2. Why was Daegu Succesful? ........................................................... 26 Chapter 3. Snapshots of Global Media Assessment ....................................... 30 Chapter 4. Way Forward: Post-COVID-19 .................................................... 37 Useful Links and Reference -----------------------------------------------------------40 Appendix ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------41 Executive Summary Epidemic to Pandemic The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Daegu Metropolitan City (hereinafter referred to as Daegu) was far beyond initial expectations. Beginning on February 18th, 2020, during the first month of the outbreak in Daegu, the number of cases soared sharply on an unprecedented scale – mainly affecting and spread by the ‘Shincheonji (a religious group based in Korea).’ In accordance with Korean national policy directions, the city government of Daegu took extreme measures to curve and slow the increase/spread of coronavirus and the associated disease, COVID-19 – in the region. However, challenging issues constantly arose from all corners and proved difficult to cope with effectively since COVID-19 is highly contagious and (especially at that time) an ‘unknown’ virus at national, regional, and global levels. Furthermore, it was not easy for the city government of Daegu to make a ‘thorough & immediate’ investigation into the activities of the religious group (Shincheonji) related with the outbreak, as they are a very private organization. Uncovering the secretive activities within the Shincheonji, while establishing causality or correlation between Shincheonji and the outbreak of COVID-19 in Daegu proved challenging in the beginning. Eventually, the spread of coronavirus influenced the whole of society, from diverse aspects like health, socio-economy, and commerce, to education and international relations. On March 11th – three weeks after the first confirmed case was reported in Daegu – the World Health Organization (WHO) finally announced that the outbreak was a global pandemic as the spread of coronavirus was observed in nearly every corner of the world, with the number of confirmed cases and mortality rate having abruptly increased. Daegu’s Fight against COVID-19 Due to the high fatality rate of coronavirus, various jointly-created countermeasures were put in place as an ‘integrated system’ within a very short period by the lead of the city government of Daegu to tackle the spread of the virus across the region. In particular, these implemented measures in Daegu proved to be effective in preventing the virus from spreading further. In these early stages, these measures also played a key role in stabilizing the local economy and can be summarized as follows: drive-through & walk-through testing sites, residential treatment centers (also frequently referred to as community treatment centers)1, real-time alert & communication systems (SNS & mobile phone SMS), 1 Facilities such as training centers affiliated to public & private organizations and university dormitories were used as Residential Treatment Centers and they were provided on a voluntary basis. Residential Treatment Centers were initially established in Daegu to accommodate the fast-growing numbers of infected patients of COVID-19 and were adopted as a national standard in Korea. 1 transparent information sharing, ICT-based information dissemination, government-guided but citizen- driven social movements, and emergency subsidies. Due to their success, some of these actions were reported as innovative by numerous members of the foreign press. Economically, Daegu was not as derailed as it might possibly have been, despite substantial degrees of economic downturn reported during the first 3 months since the outbreak (February 18th, 2020), the economic stability of Daegu led by the diverse, multifaceted roles of city government. In general, strict policy coherence and a strong intervention by the city government made significant contributions in maintaining economic stability in the region. The implemented financial support by the city government of Daegu can be categorized as follows: 1) financing local business & companies, 2) direct in-kind support to local households, and 3) taxation. How did Daegu respond to the unprecedented threats? 1) Prompt, Mass-Scale Testing and Preemptive Response When the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Daegu was reported to be from a religious group, the city became fully aware of the seriousness of the situation. As such, an emergency response advisory team consisting of the mayor, professors, and experts in infectious diseases and preventive medicine was immediately formed and then held daily, late night meetings to deal with the situation. Within three days, from February 19th to the 21st, 9,336 Shincheonji members were reached, and with the help of 170 doctors, 2,700 church members were diagnosed with 1,243 confirmed cases identified. With their symptoms verified, each were reported to public health centers and isolated from the general population. In addition, the city carried out massive testing for vulnerable people, such as patients in care homes, social welfare facilities, and many more. Testing reached a maximum of 7,000 specimens a day with up to 100,000 accumulated samples. 2) Different Tier Classifications of Patients & Real-time Hot-Line among Medical Professionals Networking for real-time emergency response was a critical strategy for tackling COVID-19 in Daegu. Before the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (hereinafter referred to as CDSCH) arrived in Daegu, there were real-time group chat rooms to share and respond to urgent issues already in place. These SNS group chat rooms were used as active communication channels between the city and the hospitals in Daegu. In addition, the SNS system proved very effective for classifying patients into different tiers according to their respective symptoms. This was also a key factor in curving the explosion of infected cases since the coronavirus was highly contagious among people in the early stage of its outbreak in Daegu. 2 The first group chat room’s members were the chief directors of general hospitals in Daegu. After a continuous series of cases tested positive, a group chat room was made for the chief directors and medical professors in Daegu to share information regarding their patients and medical resources. Another group chat room was populated with members from various working groups, including those from the Daegu Medical Association, Korean Hospital Association, and Daegu. The medical societies and the city government in Daegu could now manage and control the growing number of disruptive situations because they immediately shared urgent issues and critical information on the ground. 3) Citizen Engagement and Voluntary Participation Unlike many other cities and countries, at the municipal level, the city government of Daegu did not implement obligatory policies such as a lockdown and blockade. However, Daegu citizens voluntarily closed their businesses, refrained from social activities, agreed to postpone school openings, and stayed at home without traveling outside Daegu to other regions in order to not spread the virus beyond the city. While enduring these difficult and inconvenient times longer than other Korean nationals, the people of Daegu willingly abided by safety and health guidelines in their daily lives, which became the most significant key to successfully handling the spread of coronavirus across the region. 4) Drive-through & Walk-through This particular case in Daegu was involved with a cluster case, which gave rise to a full blown spike. What occurred next were massive numbers of suspected patients as well as a growing number of testing facilities scaling up laboratory work. This created a soaring demand for health checks and increased waiting times, raising the risk of infection. For these challenges, Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital created a drive-through station for the first time ever, by using an idea from Dr. Kim Jin Yong, the head of infectious diseases. In fact, initially the drive-through method was actually only a paper concept, so there were some doubts. However, given the urgency and severity, it was worthwhile giving it a go to help dramatically reduce testing time and prevent excessive pressure on the healthcare system. The quick implementation of drive-through testing sites established a best practice for finding confirmed cases and to isolate them from the local community. Indeed, it allowed the process of testing to be reduced to within 10 minutes. Meanwhile it minimized both hospital