The United States has more than six times the population of South Korea, but it’s reporting more than 15 times the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths.Īs of Sunday, the United States was listed as having more than 150,000 known COVID-19 cases and more than 2,400 deaths.Īs of today, March 30, South Korea is listed as having 9,661 cases and 158 deaths. It has more to do with the United States missing a critical window to ramp up testing and implement precautionary procedures to get on top of the virus. The reasons for the disparity in the two countries’ outcomes have to do with more than just size, experts say. The United States, on the other hand, is likely to have social distancing measures until at least the end of April. South Korea is also tentatively planning to re-open some public facilities as early as next week. In the more than 2 months since then, South Korea has reduced its rate of new daily cases to one-tenth of its peak while the United States likely won’t see that peak for weeks. The COVID-19 outbreak was identified in South Korea and in the United States on the same day. Visit our coronavirus hub and follow our live updates page for the most recent information on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Share on Pinterest Experts say South Korea introduced testing and other measures more quickly and efficiently than the United States in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.