What Ukraine can learn from other countries’ fights against coronavirus

COVID-19, the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, is sweeping across the globe, forcing many governments to take strict measures to limit travel and public gatherings in a bid to slow the spread of the respiratory disease.

Italy is in the second week of a nationwide lockdown, but the numbers of infected and dead keep soaring. It now has more coronavirus deaths than China, where the disease originated.

The United States is grappling with delays in testing. The United Kingdom initially decided not to implement restrictions and allow the population to develop “herd immunity.” But, recently, London changed its strategy after new data showed ignoring the virus could lead to 260,000 deaths.

Spain and France imposed a lockdown with penalties for people leaving their homes without a justified reason. Some European countries closed borders, halted passenger air, rail, and bus travel and shut down schools and public places.

Ukraine is also in quarantine until April 3. The country has 26 confirmed coronavirus cases and three deaths, as of March 20.

The country’s officials say they have been relying on the best practices of China and Italy, the two nations most affected by COVID-19, as a model for response to the outbreak. 

But both countries’ approaches have their limitations — particularly when implemented in a country with a weaker economy, less advanced healthcare system, and different governance. 

Chinese approach

In his video address on March 16 introducing the restrictive measures on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “China’s experience shows that unpopular and tough decisions beat the virus and save lives.” 

China has received significant praise from the World Health Organization (WHO) for managing to halt the disease’s spread, despite the fact that its authorities initially concealed the scale of the outbreak of coronavirus in the city of Wuhan, where the disease first emerged. 

The country has had nearly 81,000 cases, more than any other country, but the number of new cases is on the decline. On March 18, there were only 13 reported cases compared to 1,749 a month earlier on Feb. 18. All 16 temporary hospitals in Wuhan were closed.

China’s “ambitious and aggressive containment effort,” as the WHO called it, included placing 57 million people in Hubei province in lockdown for nearly two months, suspending public transit, banning mass gatherings, imposing a strict quarantine and using surveillance.

“Of course, (Ukrainian officials) have taken China for a model, the first country to face the outbreak and have a full experience,” said Fedir Lapiy, senior lecturer in pediatric infectious diseases at the National Medical Academy for Postgraduate Education. “But we have to take into account that China has an undemocratic government, and Chinese citizens are obedient.”

He suggested Ukrainian society is different. 

South Korean approach

Another Asian nation also has its COVID-19 statistics on the decline, but has taken a different approach. 

South Korea never closed borders, nor imposed lockdowns. However, it managed to keep the number of infections at 8,565 cases with 91 deaths from the coronavirus as of March 19.

South Korea didn’t ban entry to foreigners, except for those coming from Hubei province in China, the epicenter of the initial outbreak. Upon arrival at a Korean airport, both citizens and foreign nationals undergo body temperature checks and submit a health and travel record declaration with a reachable phone number. They have to install a self-diagnosis mobile application on their phones and report the state of their health for 14 days.

The Korean government didn’t close shopping malls, gyms or restaurants in order not to hurt businesses. Churches moved to holding their services online.

“Our government places the highest priority on safeguarding the people from the viral pandemic,” Ki-chang Kwon, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Ukraine, said in a written statement to the Kyiv Post. “At the same time, it is trying hard to take care of people’s livelihood by minimizing the outbreak’s impact on the economy. As one of the biggest trading nations, we want to keep our doors open with other countries as well as inside Korea.”

In his words, the key characteristics of the Korean approach to dealing with the pandemic are mass testing, openness and transparency, innovative methods and responsible citizens, who comply with rules such as wearing masks and social distancing.

From the onset of the outbreak, the government aimed to test as many people as possible — even those with the slightest symptoms. To date, 270,000 people have been tested for the coronavirus in the country of 52 million people, Ambassador Kwon said.

As one of the most technologically advanced countries, South Korea turned to innovation in combating the virus. Local scientists developed rapid test kits. Drive-through testing stations allowed drivers to provide samples within 10 minutes without leaving their cars.

City and district officials in collaboration with telecom companies push alerts about hotspots — locations visited by confirmed COVID-19 patients — so that citizens can avoid them. The public can also access this information through mobile applications.

Moreover, South Korean authorities vehemently track potential virus carriers who could have been in contact with the infected. However, it comes at the cost of privacy, according to a Reuters special report on Italian and South Korean responses to the coronavirus outbreak published on March 12. The Korean government has the authority to access various personal and tracking data of confirmed patients and even to share some of it.

Similar “Track down, test, isolate” tactics have been successfully used in Taiwan and Singapore to prevent the spread of the virus.

Korean Ambassador Kwon said replicating the Korean model in fighting the pandemic would be hard for countries with different healthcare systems and technical environments.

“I hope that some of these Korean experiences could provide useful insights to Ukraine,” he said, adding that the Korean model isn’t only about technology, but also democratic values such transparency, solidarity and devotion.

Ukraine’s capabilities

Ukraine has been in quarantine since March 12. In this time, schools and public gatherings have been canceled, and public transport has been seriously limited. Citizens are told to stay home unless absolutely necessary. 

Yuriy Zhigarev, an infectious disease specialist, said he largely agrees with the restrictive measures in the country, except for the closure of city metro systems. Closing subways only makes sense if a city is on lockdown when people can’t go anywhere, he said. In Ukraine, most people still have to go to work and are now forced to use overcrowded buses.

“(Social restrictions) have been overdue, but better late than never,” he said, adding that only expansive testing will help get the pandemic’s spread under control.

“We can’t fight the virus with our eyes closed. We have to test, test and test,” he said, repeating the WHO’s key message.

By March 18, the Center for Public Health’s laboratory had tested over 640 samples of suspected coronavirus patients and those who had been in contact with infected people using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, according to spokeswoman Olena Korolova.

In addition, Ukraine is expecting more PCR testing kits to be delivered this week, which will allow testing one million people, officials say. They also promise that rapid tests will be available in pharmacies and hospitals.

“We will expand our research and will implement new testing algorithms,” Viktor Lyashko, Ukraine’s deputy health minister, said.

Infectious disease expert Lapiy believes that Ukraine, with its underdeveloped medical infrastructure and limited financial resources, will be unable to carry out massive testing on the scale of the Asian countries and first has to prepare hospitals for a large number of patients. But the key aim for Ukraine now is to prevent new infections in order to delay the number of cases from peaking until scientists have more knowledge about COVID-19 and find a cure for it.

Besides Ukraine’s weaker capabilities in terms of copying the approaches used to fight COVID-19 in other countries, the mentality of Ukrainians plays a role too, Lapiy said. 

“The Chinese, Germans and Swiss are devoted to order and generally abide by rules. This trait is extremely important during a viral pandemic when officials ask people to limit contacts with others, wash their hands often and keep social distance,” Lapiy said. 

In Italy, many appear to feel they are paying the price for ignoring social distancing. As of March 19, their country has registered 41,035 cases and there have been 3,405 deaths, despite being on lockdown since March 10.

In a viral video, Italians talk about regretting not having taken the rules seriously and underestimating how quickly the virus spreads, which led to a skyrocketing rate of infections and overcrowded hospitals.

“I used to make fun of people wearing masks,” says one woman in a video. “Until 10 days ago, I went to meetings for work. I’d go to dinners with friends, to the gym, to the hairdressers. The usual boring things that have never hurt anybody,” says another woman in the video. “But the virus is faster than you think, so maybe rethink your Saturday plans,” says a man.

The video ends with the message: “We underestimated it. You don’t have to do the same. Stay at home.”