Coronavirus: how South Korea had the edge after table top game came true

An emergency exercise on a fictional pneumonia from China showed Seoul what to do weeks before the reality set in

Medical staff members gesture as they arrive for a duty shift at Dongsan Hospital in Daegu, South Korea. Newsis via AP

Medical staff members gesture as they arrive for a duty shift at Dongsan Hospital in Daegu, South Korea. Newsis via AP

An member of a quarantine team sprays disinfectant as a preventive measure against coronavirus in Bangsan Market in Seoul. EPA

Emergency workers disinfect ambulances used for transferring the novel coronavirus Covid-19 patients in the south-east city of Daegu. EPA

An army soldier sprays disinfectant to curb the spread of the coronavirus at a library in Daegu, South Korea. Yonhap via AP

Medical staff wearing protective suits take samples from a driver with symptoms of the coronavirus at a "drive-through" virus test facility in Goyang. AP

A driver gets a coronavirus test at a drive-through clinic in Seoul. Reuters

Medical workers wearing protective gear take samples from a foreign visitor at an 'Open Walking-Thru' centre for coronavirus Covid-19 tests at the airport in Incheon. EPA

Medical workers wearing protective gear wait for foreign passengers to take samples at an 'Open Walking-Thru' centre for coronavirus Covid-19 tests at the airport in Incheon. EPA

South Korea's Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun speaks via video conference with senior government officials and heads of local governments EPA/YONHAP

South Korean Red Cross workers prepare emergency relief kits packed with basic necessities for delivery to impoverished people experiencing difficulties amid the spread of coronavirus. Getty Images

South Korean Red Cross workers prepare emergency relief kits packed with basic necessities for delivery to impoverished people experiencing difficulties amid the spread of coronavirus. Getty Images

Covid-19 novel coronavirus testing kits are packaged on a production line at the SD Biosensor bio-diagnostic company near Cheongju, south of Seoul. AFP

Staff members restock a machine with components used in testing for Covid-19 novel coronavirus. AFP

Staff members restock a machine with components used in testing for Covid-19 novel coronavirus. AFP

Sample testing devices used in diagnosing the Covid-19 novel coronavirus are checked on a production line as they are prepared to be included in testing kits for shipment. AFP

Kim Min-bae, CEO of iONEBIO Inc. poses for photographs with samples of iLAMP Novel-Coronavirus Detection Kit. Reuters

Researchers demonstrate samples of iLAMP Novel-Coronavirus Detection Kit at an iONEBIO's office in Seongnam, South Korea. Reuters

Samples of iLAMP Novel-Coronavirus Detection Kit are seen during a demonstration at an iONEBIO's office in Seongnam. Reuters

A researcher shows a result of coronavirus-positive case as she demonstrates samples of iLAMP Novel-Coronavirus Detection Kit at an iONEBIO's office in Seongnam, South Korea. Reuters

An elderly woman adjusts her mask as she waits for a movie to start at a drive-in theatre temporarily set up for residents following the outbreak of the coronavirus. Reuters

Vehicles parked at a drive-in theatre that has been temporarily made for residents to enjoy movies while keeping social distancing amid the outbreak of the coronavirus. Reuters

A South Korean tabletop exercise on emergency responses to a fictional mysterious outbreak led directly to tools the country deployed less than a month later to manage the arrival and spread of the coronavirus, one of the experts involved said.

According to an undisclosed government document seen by Reuters, on December 17, two dozen leading South Korean infectious diseases specialists tackled a worrying scenario: a South Korean family contracts pneumonia after a trip to China, where cases of an unidentified disease had arisen.

The hypothetical disease quickly spreads among the colleagues of the family members and medical workers who treated them. In response, the team of experts at the Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) developed an algorithm to find the pathogen and its origin, as well as testing techniques.

Those measures were mobilised in real life when a first suspected coronavirus patient appeared in South Korea on January 20, the document said.

"Looking back over the past 20 years, humans were most tormented by either influenza or coronaviruses, and we're relatively doing well on influenza but had been worried about the possibility of the outbreak of a novel coronavirus," said Lee Sang-won, one of the KCDC experts who led the drill.

"It was blind luck - we were speechless to see the scenario become reality," Mr Lee added. "But the exercise helped us save much time developing testing methodology and identifying cases."

The exercise played a key role in slowing what became Asia's largest coronavirus epidemic outside China using aggressive and sustained testing.

After a big early outbreak, South Korea rolled out widespread testing within days, launching an extensive programme to test people who do not have symptoms but may be able to infect others, isolate confirmed patients and trace their contacts.

The country won praise for containing the spread of the disease with comparatively little disruption. It has 9,583 cases and 158 deaths, and managed to bring the daily tally of new infections to about 100 or fewer for the past three weeks.

The KCDC team, which Lee said was formed in 2018 as a sort of study group, had wanted to boost large-scale DNA analysis capabilities after the organisation earned much public criticism for its handling of a 2015 outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers).

Soon after the drill, the coronavirus epidemic emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, prompting the experts to begin considering that it might be a novel coronavirus. Even before Beijing officially declared it, the South Korean team was ready to begin testing, Mr Lee said.

The document also showed the KCDC established testing methodology on January 4, three days before Chinese authorities identified the virus, and started testing suspected cases on January 9. By early March, South Korea was capable of running as many as 20,000 tests a day, with five firms churning out kits for domestic use and export.

"We might be a bit overreacting at that time with just a few domestic infections, but there were substantial possibilities it would reach pandemic levels indeed," Mr Lee said. "Have we done well? I don't know. But we didn't want to repeat what we went through in 2015 - our motto was 'never again'."