Dr. Tara O makes a very compelling case that the international media should be looking at Taiwan as a great example of what to do to combat COVID-19 instead of South Korea:

Taiwan recognized the threat early on and rapidly began to take measures.  It inspected and screened travelers from Wuhan, the epicenter of the SARS CoV-2, as early as December 31, 2019.  It also actively monitored travelers from Wuhan who had already entered Taiwan on December 20, 2019 and onwards.  It had developed screening, testing, and quarantine protocols early based on lessons from the SARS 2003 outbreak.  It also engaged in aggressive contact tracing to ensure everyone that came into contact with an infected person was quarantined and tested.  On February 6, 2020, Taiwan banned travel from China.

Unlike Taiwan, South Korea never banned travel from China, although the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and the public called for such measures multiple times.  South Korea eventually restricted travel from Wuhan on February 2, 2020, but it was not until after China had already quarantined the City of Wuhan on January 23, 2020.  KMA, on February 3, made its fifth request to the government to ban entry from China, saying South Korea is losing its “golden time” of prevention, and it will become “regional spreads.” KMA also highlighted inadequate tracking of visitors from China.  KMA’s concerns and the government’s inadequate tracing are not reflected in foreign reports that praise South Korea’s tracing.

On January 31, 2020, 11,345 people traveled from China to South Korea.  Multiplying by 30 days, that would be more than 340,350 people in one month.  If 1% were infected with the coronavirus, that would be 3,403 infected people entering South Korea.

East Asia Research Center

I highly recommend reading the rest at the link.

What I think Dr. O is getting after is that the international media has been heaping great praise on President Moon’s response to COVID-19 without mentioning his administration’s previous missteps which also included lack of masks and testing. Even the testing today there is misinformation in the international media about free testing in South Korea, but don’t mention that a sick person needs to have a CT Scan or an X-ray done before a coronavirus test can be conducted. The cost of the CT scan and X-ray could dissuade people from getting tested.

The only reason why I can think of that the international media isn’t instead lavishing praise on Taiwan is because they don’t want to deal with the backlash from China. So the Moon administration has become a better example to damage the Trump administration with. Pointing out the Moon administration’s failings does not help with that goal and thus why they only focus on things that the Moon administration has done right.

Anyone else have any alternate theories on why the international media is not focusing on what the Moon administration has done wrong?

This news is not surprising to me after I read the transcript of what Modly told the crew of the Theodore Roosevelt about their commanding officer who was relieved earlier this week:

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned Tuesday amid mounting criticism for his disparaging comments about the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt who he fired over a leaked letter requesting aid for the coronavirus outbreak aboard the ship.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a statement Tuesday that he had accepted Modly’s resignation.

“He resigned on his own accord, putting the Navy and the sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Navy as an institution, can move forward,” Esper said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but I understand why Captain Crozier was relieved, but it probably would have been better to let an investigation happen first.

However, Secretary Modly just through gasoline on the fire with his remarks about Captain Crozier that was addressed to the crew of the Theodore Roosevelt. Most of his remarks were actually spot on and very good points, but attacking Crozier as being “too naïve or too stupid to be the commanding officer of a ship like this” was uncalled for in my opinion.

He should have been smart enough to know he should have just thanked Crozier for his service and that this was an unfortunate one-time incident that shouldn’t take away from the brilliant career he had, or words to that effect.

Ultimately here is yet another mess for the U.S. Navy. They are on their third Secretary of the Navy since November. I feel bad for all the great sailors that have to deal with this circus.

As the article states, Asia has long been right about the wearing of masks, I just think the CDC did not want to have a rush on these masks by the general American public when hospitals needed a chance to stockpile them:

Debate over masks ends: Asia was right all along

“There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit,” said Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies programme, as recently as Monday.

All that changed this week. On Friday, both the US and Singapore switched to advising citizens to wear masks when they leave their homes. The WHO also made a U-turn itself, with Ryan saying: “We can certainly see circumstances on which the use of masks, both home-made and cloth masks, at the community level may help with an overall comprehensive response to this disease.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but this will be a huge cultural change in the U.S. where walking around with a mask could be confused for criminal activity.

It looks like South Korea’s ruling party is going to do very well in the upcoming parliamentary elections, especially when you consider all the underhanded tactics they have implemented as well to ensure they win:

The official pointed out that President Moon’s approval rating rose to its highest level in more than a year at 52.9 percent in a survey released by pollster Realmeter, April 2. The disapproval rating was 44 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from a week earlier.

The survey result came after the President announced a massive financial aid package for low-income households and small businesses as part of his government’s efforts to prop up the coronavirus-battered economy.

Realmeter noted that the self-employed and other small-business owners were behind the rise in Moon’s approval rating.

Some 49.6 percent of them, up from 44.8 percent in the previous poll, said Moon was doing a good job.

The DPK also had 43 percent support, while the UFP had 28.2 percent.

The gap between the two parties had narrowed to just a little more than 5 percent in late February, when the government fell short of taking preemptive measures against the spread of the coronavirus.

Korea Times

The Korean public clearly has short memories about how President Moon initially refused to stop travel from China which helped lead to a surge of coronavirus cases in South Korea. Blaming the Shincheonji church for the spread obviously worked to blunt the Chinese travel criticism. Since then I agree the pandemic has been managed very well.

This is going to be tough for parents to stomach that try to limit the amount of time kids spend in front of a television:

 In a new learning environment in South Korea created by the coronavirus outbreak, getting glued to the television screen won’t be such a bad thing for young students.

The education ministry announced on Sunday that, starting on April 20, first and second graders in elementary school will be following instructions offered in TV programs and handout materials, rather than through live online classes like older students. Those programs will air on the state-run Educational Broadcasting System (EBS).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I find just the general educational programming on EBS is pretty good so it will be interesting to see what they come up with for general educational instruction.