two people being tested at a covid testing booth station

How South Korea prevented a coronavirus disaster—and why the battle isn’t over

The nation beat back COVID-19 with more than its large number of tests. Can it maintain this success?

Medical workers take nose and mouth swabs, each collected in less than a minute, at a walk-in clinic at H Plus Yangji Hospital in Seoul, April 14, 2020. The walk-in clinic is set up like phone booths to prevent contact between patients and medical staff. Since opening this type of testing site on March 10, the hospital has screened 2,700 patients and identified 4 confirmed cases, as of April 22. A test result can be returned within 4 to 6 hours.

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