Countries controlling the coronavirus have 3 strategies in common: masking, robust testing and tracing, and a consistent federal plan

As the pandemic marches on, experts have identified the strategies that help a country beat the coronavirus.

A coronavirus testing station in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images

By Aylin Woodward

Nine months into the pandemic, the US and parts of Europe are seeing their coronavirus outbreaks spiral even further out of control, with record-breaking daily infection counts.

And then there’s Taiwan, which just marked its 200 consecutive day without a single new COVID-19 case.

Or take the epicenter of Australia’s pandemic, the state of Victoria, which recorded zero cases for the first time in four months on both October 26 and 27.

South Korea’s daily case count, too, continues to hover around 120 — about 1/1000 of the nearly 100,000 new cases reported in the US on Friday.

According to public-health experts, these successes are the result of a clear recipe: Create a cohesive federal plan with consistent messaging, get everyone to wear masks, and implement widespread testing and contact tracing. The countries failing to curb their outbreaks are missing at least one of those elements. The US lacks all of them.