US willing to learn from S'pore, S Korea in fight against Covid-19, says Pompeo

CORONAVIRUS | The United States is keen to exchange information with countries in Asia that have produced good results in the battle against Covid-19, said its Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, citing Singapore and South Korea as examples.

Pompeo was speaking to Malaysiakini via a live telephone conference alongside a number of other media outlets from the Asia-Pacific region. These included one media outlet each from Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and two from Japan as well as the Voice of America.

“Just before the weekend I talked to my Singapore counterpart (Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan). We will continue to work alongside them, to learn from things that Singapore did successfully (in fighting Covid-19),” Pompeo (below) said.

The United States now has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world, with more than 145,000 cases and at least 2,605 fatalities, including more than 1,000 deaths in New York state itself.

In contrast, the island republic of Singapore has suffered three fatalities from 849 recorded cases. In addition to aggressive testing, contact-tracing and quarantine efforts, the country has also introduced a mobile app to assist the government with contact-tracing and produced a new rapid test kit that can detect Covid-19 infections within 10 minutes.

Pompeo’s boss President Donald Trump has come under enormous criticism for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak as he repeatedly dismissed its threat to the US and insisted it was under control - only to find the global pandemic overwhelm the US healthcare system this month.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr Anthony Fauci estimated, in an interview with CNN, that the pandemic could cause between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths in the United States.

Pompeo also indicated that another country the US could learn from is South Korea.

“They have had a pretty effective effort and from all the data that we can gather. It would appear the South Koreans have come across the peak and for that, they should be applauded,” said Pompeo, who took just one question from each journalist.

South Korea has reported 9,661 cases with 158 fatalities since the start of its outbreak and has been cited as a model for successful treatment due to its high-rating of administering tests.

South Korea also repurposed buildings, such as training centres, to house Covid-19 patients with less severe symptoms while hospitals are reserved for more severe cases.

While Pompeo was effusive in his praise of some Asian nations, his views on China were decidedly mixed as he maintained his position that Beijing is at the forefront of a disinformation campaign over the origin and spread of the disease.

Italian-American Pompeo served as a hardline Republican congressperson representing Kansas’ 4th district before Trump appointed him to direct the CIA in January 2017 and then to head the State Department in April 2018.

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