Policies and innovations to battle Covid-19 – A case study of South Korea

•Fast government response to legislate new laws to protect health care workers prevented human capital loss.•General public preferred transparent information over privacy which provided grounds for the government to implement innovative movement tracking systems.•Utilizing non-hospital facilities for patients needing minor to no treatment as isolation facilities reduced the stress on the medical system.•Innovation on how the testing facilities are designed, such as the drive through testing method, has now been adapted by other coutries.