Dataset Information

Effective Control of COVID-19 in South Korea: Cross-Sectional Study of Epidemiological Data.

ABSTRACT:

Background

South Korea is one of the few countries that has succeeded in flattening the curve of new COVID-19 cases and avoiding a second outbreak by implementing multiple strategies, ranging from an individual level to the population level.

Objective

We aim to discuss the unique strategies and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in South Korea and present a summary of policies implemented by the Korean government during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We designed a cross-sectional study of epidemiological data published by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on October 1, 2020. We analyzed detailed epidemiological information of COVID-19 cases, including the number of confirmed cases and resulting deaths.

Results

As of October 1, 2020, a total of 23,889 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 415 deaths were reported in South Korea. In this paper, we present data on the epidemiological characteristics and transmission of the disease and discuss how the South Korean government, health care providers, and society responded to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Conclusions

Understanding the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in South Korea and the government's successful efforts in managing the spread of the disease can provide important insights to other countries dealing with the ongoing pandemic.

SUBMITTER: Jeong GH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7732355 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Countries around the world have taken control measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including Korea. Social distancing is considered an essential strategy to reduce transmission in the absence of vaccination or treatment. While interventions have been successful in controlling COVID-19 in Korea, maintaining the current restrictions incurs great social costs. Thus, it is important to analyze the impact of different polices on the spread of the epidemic. To model the COVID-19 outbreak, we use an extended age-structured SEIR model with quarantine and isolation compartments. The model is calibrated to age-specific cumulative confirmed cases provided by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Four control measures-school closure, social distancing, quarantine, and isolation-are investigated. Because the infectiousness of the exposed has been controversial, we study two major scenarios, considering contributions to infection of the exposed, the quarantined, and the isolated. Assuming the transmission rate would increase more than 1.7 times after the end of social distancing, a second outbreak is expected in the first scenario. The epidemic threshold for increase of contacts between teenagers after school reopening is 3.3 times, which brings the net reproduction number to 1. The threshold values are higher in the second scenario. If the average time taken until isolation and quarantine reduces from three days to two, cumulative cases are reduced by 60% and 47% in the first scenario, respectively. Meanwhile, the reduction is 33% and 41%, respectively, for rapid isolation and quarantine in the second scenario. Without social distancing, a second wave is possible, irrespective of whether we assume risk of infection by the exposed. In the non-infectivity of the exposed scenario, early detection and isolation are significantly more effective than quarantine. Furthermore, quarantining the exposed is as important as isolating the infectious when we assume that the exposed also contribute to infection.