SOUTH KOREA virus TEST

Shotlist

Seoul – 17 March 2020

1. Various of laboratory producing coronavirus test kits

2. Various of Kogene Biotech President Nam Yong-Suk

3. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Nam Yong-Suk, President of Kogene Biotech:

"Kogene Biotech has experienced two major outbreaks: 2009 H1N1 influenza and 2015 MERS-CoV in Korea. We had been continuously monitoring the COVID-19 outbreaks from China in December 2019 and we checked the genetic information about SARS (acute respiratory syndrome) virus appeared on GISAID (Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data) on January 10, and we started for the development of diagnostics kits immediately. A week later, WHO (World Health Organization) released the gene sequence for SARS-CoV-2 and testing method, Kogene could complete the development of the kits about 10 days."

4. Various of lab

5. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Nam Yong-Suk, President of Kogene Biotech:

"Especially in this pandemic situation, it is most important for the diagnostic method to have high accuracy, so we developed a high-quality product that can exclude even one error. Currently, the SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics kits of five companies have been approved for EUAL in Korea, and they are based on 'Real-time PCR' technology."

6. Various of coronavirus test kit product

7. Jacob Lee, associate professor at the division of infectious disease at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital

8. Various of screen showing X-ray images of a virus-infected patient

9. Mid of Lee

10. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Jacob Lee, Associate Professor at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital:

"When the companies made coronavirus test kits, KCDC (Korean Centers for Disease Control) did the validity assessment on these kits directly. Also, the process of getting approval from Ministry of Food and Drug Safety was completed within one week. Therefore, such institutional aspects created from the country's experience with MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), the excellence of (South Korean) companies in the development of virus test kits, and KCDC's validity assessment all together have attributed to the country's accomplishment in (quick and accurate virus testing). Also, with the quickly developed virus test kits, the country could aggressively respond to the virus outbreak in its early stage and achieve early diagnosis and quarantine, which are the most fundamental elements in virus prevention. So, these could be one of the reasons that the virus spread in our country is slowing down relatively quickly."

11. Various of Lee

12. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Jacob Lee, Associate Professor at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital:

"This year is the first time that this new coronavirus is going around. Thus, most people have not been infected with the virus so even if there is any climate impact on the virus outbreak, I think the patterns of the virus passing between people would continue. The virus is spreading not even in the northern hemisphere, but also in some of the countries in the southern hemisphere, and also in warm countries. In this respect, the virus will continue to pass between people, so seasonal or climatic impacts will not play a big role in the virus outbreak. Later when the virus becomes naturalized in humans, then there could be climatic impacts, but I think it is a bit too early to hope for that right now."

Seoul – 16 March 2020

13. Various of medical staff conducting virus test at telephone booth-style test facility

Seoul – 3 March 2020

14. Various of drive-thru coronavirus testing centre

Storyline

While the new coronavirus and the illness it causes, COVID-19, rapidly spreads around the world, South Korea is seeing a slowing trend in the number of virus cases Thursday.

Following China, South Korea was the country with the largest number of coronavirus cases until just a few weeks ago, heightening the fear of the virus, not only within the nation but in other countries and prompting dozens of countries to place travel restrictions against South Koreans.

As of mid-March, however, South Korea is seeing a stabilizing trend in the virus outbreak, with a noticeably lower daily increase in the number of infections compared to those in February.

Experts believe the country's aggressive testing and quarantine measures have attributed to this phenomenon.

Jacob Lee, an associate professor at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, said South Korea's experiences with the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in 2015 have strengthened the governmental system for prevention of infectious diseases, and the country's quick development of test kits have empowered it to aggressively respond to the virus outbreak with early diagnosis and quarantine efforts.

Countries around the world are paying attention to South Korean biotech firms' quick development of the coronavirus test kits, which has enabled the government to test people rapidly. The country is now exporting virus test kits to various countries around the globe.

Kogene Biotech, the first South Korean biotech firm to obtain KCDC's emergency use approval, is exporting its diagnostic test kits, to about 30 countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Greece and Poland.

The company said it had already been monitoring the new coronavirus outbreak when it began to plague China in December 2019 and started to develop the test kits as soon as the World Health Organization released the gene sequence of the virus on January 10. The biotech firm could complete the development in about 10 days and got the emergency use approval from Korea's CDC on February 4.

The "Real-time PCR" technology used in all diagnostic kits developed by South Korean companies is a standard method to diagnose for viruses for inspection and prevention worldwide, said Nam Yong-Suk, president of Kogene Biotech.

Nam said using a highly accurate diagnostic method is critical, and these test kits using the Real-time PCR technology enable virus diagnosis without an error.

Kogene and a few other South Korean biotech firms are preparing to obtain the emergency use authorization from the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Along with the stable supply of coronavirus test kits, South Korea's creative approaches to virus testing, such as "drive-thru" test centres and "telephone-booth" style test facilities to minimize human contacts are receiving attention from the world.

Germany, the US and Japan have also adopted the drive-thru testing following South Korea.