Export of anti-virus kits

International popularity shows Korea's ability to fight off pandemic

It is welcome news that Korea is gaining recognition as the country that has the best ability in the world to diagnose the novel coronavirus. The nation is now reportedly flooded with requests from other countries to help them set up coronavirus-testing facilities or overall anti-pandemic systems. President Moon Jae-in also appeared encouraged when he said recently, "As far as testing and quarantine capacity is concerned, Korea is second to none."

As of Friday morning the COVID-19 mortality rate in Korea stood at 1.1 percent, about one quarter of the global average of 4.1 percent. The low number of fatalities is thanks to the nation's excellent ability to detect the virus. Bloomberg News also acknowledged that Korea's lower-than-average rate was attributable to the nationwide testing system. Foreign experts say Korea may be the only nation in the world that can check for the virus so quickly and on such a large scale.

Four Korean companies are now producing coronavirus diagnostic kits. Some of these products extract genes from the virus and finish diagnosis in less than two hours, boasting the fastest speed in the world. The superior diagnostic technology has also opened the way for exports. The rapid turnaround and high accuracy of the tests are gathering international praise, which, in turn, have resulted in a surge of purchase orders from various regions and countries. "It usually takes a year to commercialize a new diagnostic kit, but Korea completed it in a matter of weeks," said La Stampa, an Italian daily. Thanks to these advantages, made-in-Korea diagnostic kits have already been exported or are awaiting shipment to the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe.

About 10 foreign governments have expressed the intention to import Korean diagnostic kits as soon as possible. Provided the governmental investment is made, the nation will be able to attain far better results than now by creating synergic effects between diagnostic kits and reagents. All this is to the credit of the public health authorities, including the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the private businesses. They have been preparing for a new virus since the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome crisis in 2015, and are now systematically coping with COVID-19 through government-public cooperation.