Jang said he knew this wave was different in early December when the bright red messages that report confirmed cases began to multiply in the chatroom on his computer screen. But after a summer of touting South Korea's approach as a model for the world, officials acknowledge the success of those earlier efforts helped fuel over-confidence that left them straining to contain a third wave and scrambling to defend a cautious vaccine timeline. In eight interviews with Reuters, frontline fighters in South Korea's war against the virus outlined what they say were critical mistakes by the government. Since the pandemic began, South Korea has more than doubled the number of investigators, from around 130 to 305, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. South Korea has never imposed full lockdowns, and as recently as November was handing out vouchers to encourage domestic travel and tourism.

Source: bd News24 December 24, 2020 01:41 UTC