Why are other countries attempting to buy S. Korea's COVID-19 test kits?

Arirang News 2020-04-06

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전 세계가 '한국산 진단키트'에 주목하는 이유

It is becoming more and more apparent as researchers learn more about COVID-19 that testing is the key to flattening the curve of coronavirus infections.
This has prompted countries to search high and low for high-quality diagnostic kits.
And those produced in South Korea are in overwhelming global demand.
Kim Sung-min tells us why more than 100 countries are looking to South Korea for help in their time in need.
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages around the world, more than a hundred different countries have made enquiries about the test kits made and used in South Korea.
For Lithuania, Bulgaria and the U.S., their respective leaders directly reached out to President Moon Jae-in to make urgent requests for South Korea's kits.
Over the past few months, South Korea's diagnostic kits have proven their speed and accuracy through hundreds of thousands of samplings.
Once the test is done, the kits show a reliable 'positive or negative' result within six hours.
This contrasts sharply with Chinese-made kits.
The Spanish government recently decided not to use test kits they'd bought from China because of their low reliability of only 30 percent.
The key behind South Korea's rapid test kit development was the immediate action taken by the government and the country's innovative medical companies.
As soon as South Korea confirmed its first case in January, government officials gathered the heads of several local medical companies, urged them to produce high-quality kits and vowed that they'd be approved extremely quickly.
South Korean experts also worked hard to minimize potential errors and constantly provided advice to ensure the kits would be the highest possible quality.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged local medical companies to quickly develop a coronavirus test kit. We then immediately conducted concise evaluations on the new kits.
Adding to its credibility, South Korea's test method for infectious diseases has been accepted as a draft international standard by the International Organization for Standardization.
After receiving final approval from all member states, the method is expected to be designated as an international standard before the end of the year.
Kim Sung-min, Arirang News.

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