The Republic of Korea was one of the first countries to tackle the COVID-19 crisis. Facing a rapid, exponential increase in infections after the first positive case w
as identified on January 20, the country took decisive action to contain the virus. Although the total number of cases is high, daily increases have been declining steadily from a peak of just above 900 in late February to around 100 by the second week of March (Figure 1). Recovered cases now far outnumber new cases, and deaths have been kept just above 100 as of this writing.
Figure 1. Coronavirus cases in Korea
of which recommended the need to strengthen and scale up investments in global health security as an urgent priority. The IWG seeks to propose ways in which national governments and development partners can effectively and sustainably finance investments to strengthen country and regional preparedness capacities for health emergencies.