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Original Paper
Effective Control of COVID-19 in South Korea: Cross-Sectional
Study of Epidemiological Data
Gwang Hun Jeong1*, MS; Hyo Jeong Lee2*, MS; Jinhee Lee3*, MD, PhD; Jun Young Lee4*, MD, PhD; Keum Hwa
Lee5, MD, MSc; Young Joo Han6, MD; Sojung Yoon2, BE; Seohyun Ryu2, MS; Da Kyung Kim7, MS; Myung Bae
Park8, PhD; Jae Won Yang4, MD, PhD; Maria Effenberger9, MD; Michael Eisenhut10, MD; Sung Hwi Hong11, MD,
MPH; Andreas Kronbichler12, MD; Ramy Abou Ghayda13, MD; Jae Il Shin5, MD, PhD
1College of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea
2College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
3Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Republic of Korea
4Department of Nephrology, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Republic of Korea
5Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
6Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon, Republic of Korea
7College of Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Republic of Korea
8Department of Gerontology Health and Welfare, Pai Chai University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
9Deparment of Internal Medicine I, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Endocrinology & Metabolism, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
10Luton & Dunstable University Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust, Luton, United Kingdom
11Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
12Department of Internal Medicine IV, Nephrology and Hypertension, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
13Urology Institute, University Hospitals System, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, United States
*these authors contributed equally
Corresponding Author:
Jae Il Shin, MD, PhD
Department of Pediatrics
Yonsei University College of Medicine
Yonsei-ro 50, Seodaemun-gu, CPO Box 8044
Seoul, 03722
Republic of Korea
Phone: 82 222282050
Email: shinji@yuhs.ac
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.
(J Med Internet Res 2020;22(12):e22103) doi: 10.2196/22103
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KEYWORDS
COVID-19; Korea; strategies; epidemiological characteristics
Introduction
In December 2019, several cases of pneumonia of unknown
origin were reported in Wuhan, China. The causative agent was
identified to be a new coronavirus, which was tentatively named
as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) [1]. The disease
continued to spread rapidly across China, and on January 30,
2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the
outbreak was a public health emergency of international concern
[2]. On February 11, 2020, the Coronaviridae Study Group of
the International Commission on Taxonomy of Viruses named
2019-nCoV as SARS-CoV-2, and the WHO officially named
the disease caused by this virus as COVID-19 [3].
The WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11,
2020. As of October 1, 2020, more than 33,558,134 cases had
been confirmed by laboratory tests globally, and more than
1,004,979 COVID-19–related deaths were reported [4].
According to the WHO, the Republic of Korea was the
second-most affected country worldwide as of March 9, 2020
[5]. Since then, the daily number of newly confirmed COVID-19
cases have decreased rapidly. As of October 1, 2020, in South
Korea, a total of 23,889 COVID-19 cases were diagnosed, with
the country ranking 50th in terms of the total number of
confirmed cases worldwide [4]. Although a second peak was
observed around August 15, South Korea is one of the few
countries in the world to have successfully maintained a flat
infection curve for more than 50 days (Figures 1 and 2). Given
the rapid spread of COVID-19, other countries are likely to
experience similar outbreaks like South Korea. Thus, it is
noteworthy to retrospectively review how the COVID-19
outbreak spread in South Korea and how the country managed
to eventually flatten the curve of the number of COVID-19
cases. In this study, we present the current status of COVID-19
in South Korea, including data on the transmission of the
disease, its epidemiologic characteristics, and the government
and society’s responses toward the outbreak. We believe the
findings of this study would help other countries in their efforts
to control and stop the outbreak of COVID-19. To our
knowledge, our study is the first to report the epidemiological
characteristics of COVID-19 transmission and the government’s
policies for disease control.
Figure 1. Cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases (log scale) by days since the 100th confirmed case.
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Figure 2. Cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases (log scale) by days since the 100th confirmed case (x-axis cut up to 61 days).
Methods
We collected demographic and epidemiologic data from
COVID-19 reporting and surveillance data published by the
WHO and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency
(KDCA), formerly Korea Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (KCDC), from January 20, 2020, to October 1, 2020.
The official COVID-19 reports in Korea were updated twice a
day until March 1, 2020, by the Central Disaster and Safety
Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCHQ) of KDCA.
Thereafter, the reports were updated only once a day. The
English version of these reports are also available from the
KDCA website’s English home page, which are updated daily
by the Division of Risk Assessment and International
Cooperation of KDCA [6].
In addition, we reviewed various government policies and
responses to COVID-19 based on these daily updates, up to
October 1, 2020. Where additional information was needed, we
reviewed and confirmed the data released by the press.
Results
Spread of COVID-19 Cases in South Korea
The first confirmed COVID-19 case in South Korea was
reported on January 20, 2020 [7]. After the first outbreak among
a religious group was reported on February 19, the number of
COVID-19 cases rapidly began to spread and resulted in mass
infection in the country. The highest number of confirmed cases
per day was 813, as recorded on February 29, 2020 [4].
However, as of March 15, 2020, the number of confirmed
COVID-19 cases per day has dropped by about 76 (Figure 3).
South Korea was able to take control of the spread of COVID-19
without enforcing a lockdown and managed to flatten the curve
and successfully maintain it like so until August 13 (Figures 1
and 2). Because of a massive antigovernment rally and the
relaxation of the deterrence policy, a second outbreak emerged,
with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per day
increasing to 441 as of August 28, 2020. Finally, the number
of confirmed COVID-19 cases per day substantially dropped
again, with about 113 cases reported as of September 30, 2020.
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Figure 3. Number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases per day in South Korea.
As of midnight, October 1, 2020, a total of 2,328,435 patients
had been tested, of which 23,889 (1.03%) patients were
confirmed to have COVID-19 [4,8]. Among these patients,
21,666 (90.7%) were successfully treated and discharged from
the hospital, 1,808 (7.56%) were still being isolated [8], and
415 (1.7%) died (Table 1). The detailed epidemiological
characteristics of patients with COVID-19 in South Korea are
presented in Table 1. Of the 415 total deaths, 195 (47%) were
reported in Daegu (Figure 4). The highest prevalence rate for
COVID-19 (289.86) was reported in Daegu. In contrast, a
relatively low prevalence of 50.42 was reported in Seoul, which
has the largest population as a single city (Figure 5).
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Table 1. Detailed epidemiologic characteristics of patients with confirmed COVID-19 in South Korea as of midnight, October 1, 2020 (N=23,889).
Value, n (%)Characteristic
Gender
11,007 (46.1)Male
12,882 (53.9)Female
Age range, years
584 (2.4)0-9
1310 (5.5)10-19
4769 (20.0)20-29
2917 (12.2)30-39
3192 (13.4)40-49
4434 (18.6)50-59
3795 (15.9)60-69
1913 (8.0)70-79
975 (4.1)80 and above
City
5323 (22.3)Seoul
427 (1.8)Busan
7133 (30.0)Daegu
919 (3.9)Incheon
495 (2.1)Gwangju
360 (1.5)Daejeon
147 (0.6)Ulsan
76 (0.3)Sejong
4405 (18.4)Gyeonggi-do
224 (0.9)Gangwon-do
172 (0.72)Chungcheongbuk-do
487 (2.0)Chungcheongnam-do
128 (0.5)Jeollabuk-do
170 (0.7)Jeollanam-do
1566 (6.5)Gyeongsangbuk-do
291 (1.2)Gyeongsangnam-do
59 (0.3)Jeju-do
1517 (6.4)Quarantine system
COVID-19 cases from overseas
23 (0.1)China
1596 (6.7)Asian (except China)
574 (2.4)Europe
945 (4.0)Africa
84 (0.5)America
15 (0.1)Oceania
Deaths due to COVID-19
415 (100.0)Total deaths
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Value, n (%)Characteristic
Gender
219 (52.8)Male
196 (47.2)Female
Age range, years
2 (0.5)30-39
4 (1.0)40-49
19 (4.6)50-59
44 (10.6)60-69
138 (33.3)70-79
208 (50.1)80 and above
Figure 4. Cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and resulting deaths in South Korea.
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Figure 5. Prevalence of COVID-19 across various regions in South Korea (midnight, October 1, 2020).
KCDC is a public health institution that plays an important role
as the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control. This
organization aims to investigate the occurrence patterns and
epidemiology of COVID-19, care for patients with a confirmed
diagnosis, and individuals they have been in contact with and
accordingly inform people of appropriate measures to prevent
the spread of disease. Since it raised the national infectious
disease crisis level for COVID-19 to “serious” on February 23,
2020, the Korean government has established the CDSCHQ,
operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Ministry
of Public Administration and Security, to support KCDC with
its disease control efforts and to provide the necessary assistance
in matters requiring coordination between the central
government and local municipal governments.
Along with KCDC and CDSCHQ, the Korean government has
responded to changes in situations every single day and put
forward various policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in
the society (see Table S2 in Multimedia Appendix 1).
Policies and Responses of the South Korean
Government
Measures to Prevent Entry of the Virus
Among the many countries in the world where COVID-19
outbreaks have occurred, Korean policies concerning
immigration restrictions and bans are the least restrictive.
Currently, South Korea enforces immigration bans only for
passengers who possess Chinese passports issued by Hubei
Province, all foreigners who have visited Hubei within the past
14 days, and passengers of the anchored cruise ship (Diamond
Princess) at Yokohama Port in Japan. Moreover, guidelines for
passengers arriving from China have been changed to mandate
a visa for transfers via Korea. The visa-exemption entry of
Japanese passport holders was restricted, and the validity of all
previously issued visas was suspended. For all passengers
arriving in Korea from different parts of the world, entry is
allowed under conditions that these foreign nationals submit a
special in-flight quarantine health status report and install a
mobile app for COVID-19 self-diagnosis that provides a daily
report of their health status for 14 days. Since March 22 and
25, 2020, the Korean government has been conducting
COVID-19 diagnostic tests for every inbound traveler entering
the country from Europe and the United states, respectively.
On the first day of conducting these diagnostic tests, 1444
individuals underwent the tests and 19 of them were confirmed
to have COVID-19 [8].
Early Detection Through Screening Clinics
The Korean government’s policy against COVID-19 was to
invest as many medical resources as possible for screening and
early diagnosis of disease [9]. This is important because isolating
and monitoring patients with confirmed COVID-19 in early
stages of the disease can impede further disease transmission
and enable patients to be transferred to the hospital soon after
they show severe respiratory symptoms, thereby reducing
mortality and morbidity.
On February 7, 2020, the Korean government approved test kits
that could produce results in 6 hours; thereafter, supply of the
diagnostic test kits increased from 200 to 3000, and the number
of screening clinics increased from 288 to 556 [10]. By February
26, South Korea had tested 46,127 individuals, while at that
timepoint, Japan had tested only 1846 individuals and the United
States has tested only 426 individuals [11]. South Korea
continued to perform a higher number of screening tests than
most other countries, with 2,322,999 tests conducted until
October 1, 2020 [6].
To prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, the Korean
government opened more than 600 testing centers designed to
screen as many people as quickly as possible and to keep health
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workers safe by minimizing contact. The government also
introduced drive-through screening clinics in February. At that
time, these clinics were operational in more than 50 locations
nationwide, which helped minimize contact between medical
staff and individuals undergoing tests and thus reduce
cross-contamination and test administration time (from almost
1 hour to only about 10 minutes). These drive-through testing
clinics allowed more than 15,000 COVID-19 laboratory tests
to be conducted per day [9]. At some walk-in centers, patients
enter a chamber resembling a transparent phone booth, wherein
health care workers administer throat swabs using thick rubber
gloves built into the chamber’s walls.
Systematic Diagnostic Testing
COVID-19 suspected cases are confirmed only by laboratory
tests, using any of the following pathogenic detection criteria:
(1) a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 based on respiratory or
serum specimen examined by real-time reverse transcription
polymerase chain reaction or (2) full genome sequences of the
virus isolated from the respiratory or serum specimen are
identical to SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences [12]. Patients who
undergo laboratory diagnostic tests are classified into 2 groups:
The first group “patients with suspected COVID-19” comprises
those who have been in contact with a patient with confirmed
COVID-19 within the last 14 days and have symptoms of fever
over 37.5℃ or respiratory symptoms (including cough, dyspnea,
and acute respiratory distress syndrome); these patients are
prioritized among those who are eligible for laboratory
examination [12]. The second group “patients under
investigation” comprises those who have visited countries with
a high incidence of COVID-19, such as China, Hong Kong, and
Macao within the last 14 days or those who are
epidemiologically related to the domestic outbreak and show
COVID-19–related symptoms; these patients take priority after
the suspected patients [12]. Those who have unexplainable
pneumonia and are suspected to have COVID-19 according to
the doctor’s opinion are also classified as patients under
investigation and can receive diagnostic tests, even if they do
not have a history of exposure to patients with confirmed
COVID-19 [12]. In addition, individuals who have been in
contact with patients with COVID-19 may be tested for the
purpose of releasing them from quarantine even if they have no
symptoms, and some of them may be identified as asymptomatic
patients [12].
In the beginning, the diagnostic criteria were so strict that only
a few people could receive diagnostic tests, which resulted in
many patients having diseases with an unclear diagnosis. Some
COVID-19 cases were confirmed without a history of exposure
to patients with confirmed infection or travel within high-risk
countries, or expression of any clinical symptoms; therefore,
on February 16, 2020, the government decided to expand the
range of patients that could receive a diagnostic examination
considering the high risk of human-to-human COVID-19
transmission due to asymptomatic patients [6].
Contact Monitoring and Epidemiological Investigations
Using Information Technology
COVID-19 contact investigation and management involved the
following aspects: (1) determination of the location of the
contact (patient route), (2) exposure risk evaluation, (3) contact
classification, and (4) contact management [9]. Exposed
individuals (hereafter, contacts) need continuous monitoring
regardless of whether they exhibit symptoms. The range of
contact is determined by the local city and provincial response
teams who evaluate the symptoms of patients with confirmed
infection, whether or not they were wearing a mask, their
exposure situation, and other factors. In general, the range of
contact is set to 24 hours before the patient with confirmed
infection begins to exhibit symptoms. The Korean government
is undertaking vigorous measures to track and test those who
had been in contact with these patients, by conducting only a
proxy interview with the patient.
Objective methods are also used for contact verification,
including use of a GPS and review of medical facility records,
card transaction logs, and closed-circuit television recordings.
Since the government tracks the movements of patients with
confirmed COVID-19 in detail and discloses them to the public
via a smartphone app, users can determine whether or not they
have been in contact with the patient themselves [13]. If these
contact individuals do not have any notable symptoms, he or
she is released from the mandatory quarantine period a day after
a fortnight has passed from the date of final contact with the
patient with confirmed diagnosis. In cases where the patient
was residing with a family, de-isolation was permissible 14
days after the patient was de-isolated. Individuals violating
self-isolation guidelines were imposed with a fine of up to US
$1000 or imprisonment for up to 1 year [9].
Quarantine, Isolation, and Surveillance
If the health center recognizes a patient with confirmed
COVID-19 first, it reports to the provincial government and
KCDC immediately. Thereafter the health center evaluates the
severity of the case by checking the patient’s level of
consciousness, body temperature, respiration rate, and other
high-risk indicators to decide which of the following isolation
methods would be most appropriate: (1) self-isolation, (2)
facility isolation, or (3) hospital isolation [9]. If the patient has
no severe symptoms, no problem with arranging for daily
essential supplies, and can live independently, he or she is
eligible for self-isolation. However, if the patient has difficulties
in living independently, does not have a proper residence, or
lives with relatives belonging to a high-risk group (ie, people
aged over 65 years, having underlying diseases, or requiring
oxygen treatment due to reduced oxygen saturation <90% in
indoor settings), he or she should be admitted to a life care
center. If the physician in charge determines that the patient’s
disease severity is acceptable for his or her transfer to a life care
center, a hospitalized patient can be moved into facility isolation.
Patients belonging to the high-risk group or having high fever
(>38.5℃) require hospital isolation [9].
Accessible and Effective Medical Intervention
South Korea has a National Health Insurance System (NHIS)
that covers more than 50 million people, that is, over 97.1% of
the entire nation’s population, whereas the remaining 2.9% are
supported by the Medical Aid Program [14]. The NHIS covers
most cases of diagnosis and treatment related to COVID-19,
and these insured patients can easily access health facilities with
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considerably lower medical expenses than those incurred by
insured patients in other countries. Patients with COVID-19 are
supported by the NHIS, central government, and local
governments. Of the total medical expenses, the government
and local governments support the expenses incurred by the
patients, after subtracting NHIS’ levy of the total medical
expenses, as determined by Korea’s health insurance system.
At first, there were no approved antiviral drugs for COVID-19
treatment in Korea, but later, the government approved some
antiviral agents such as remdesivir, an anti-Ebola drug, that
were likely used for COVID-19 treatment in other countries,.
Patients with confirmed COVID-19 are treated with
symptomatic therapy comprising fluid replacement, antipyretics,
oxygen therapy, or antibiotics to prevent secondary infections.
Individuals who have been in contact with these patients do not
require any special treatment until they show COVID-19–related
symptoms [15].
Realignment of Health Care Institution Use System
To reinforce infection control within health care institutions,
the Korean government has been providing infection control
guidelines to these institutions and focusing on expanding
cooperation and communication within the health care circles.
Health care institutions are required to provide patients with
guidance on hygiene, restrict the entry of visitors and control
visiting conditions, screen each visitor’s body temperature, and
mandate the wearing of masks [16].
The Korean government designated 60 institutions for
hospitalized treatment of patients with COVID-19, managed
the supply empirical therapies, and shared distributor
information. Moreover, the Korean government is trying to
ensure non–COVID-19 patients’ safety and accessibility to
hospitals by separating areas for patients with respiratory
illnesses from those for patients with other illnesses. As of
September 30, 270 hospitals in Korea were designated as
COVID-19 protection hospitals, as a result of which many
non–COVID-19 patients were not inconvenienced in using
medical institutions [10]. The South Korean government also
allows physicians to offer over-the-phone medical consultation
and prescriptions temporarily, until the COVID-19 outbreak
ends. Telemedicine services were previously considered illegal
in South Korea, but the government effected a decision to allow
telemedicine in order to lower the risk of COVID-19 infection
by reducing contact between patients and health care workers.
Prompt Amendments of Associated Laws
According to a previous study [1] on the Infectious Disease
Prevention and Management Act, the Minister of Health and
Welfare or the head of a local government may restrict the
assembly, in order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases
and may impose a fine up to ₩ 3 million (US $2382.27 as of
March 18, 2020) to those in violation of the prohibited measures.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, the local governments
identified some groups that held large-scale rallies and penalized
them. In addition, the Ministry of Health and Welfare
reorganized the entire quarantine system to effectively respond
to the COVID-19 outbreak and supplemented the necessary
measures to respond to an infectious disease outbreak. Thus, 3
amendments to the Act on the Prevention and Management of
Infectious Diseases, the Quarantine Law, and the Medical Law
were urgently proposed, and these became effective after they
were passed in the plenary session of the National Assembly
on February 26, 2020 [17]. The current tools and policies are
based on the “Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act,”
the legal framework for the Korea’s disease-prevention policy
which was revised in 2015 after the outbreak of Middle East
respiratory syndrome. South Korea’s experience with this
infectious disease enabled rapid amendments of associated laws.
The detailed points of the amendments to the law are presented
in Table S2 and supplementary text in Multimedia Appendix
1.
Public-Private Co-operation and Civic Awareness
COVID-19 is known to be spread through droplets generated
by cough or sneezing and by touching one’s eyes, nose, or mouth
with contaminated hands. In addition, aerosols and feces are
known to be associated with the spread of the disease [18-20].
Considering these facts, the Korean government has suggested
various methods for preventing the spread of COVID-19; these
include personal hygiene management, the use of masks, and
practicing social distancing. In particular, due to the shortage
of masks for the public, the government made a policy to enable
people to purchase 2 masks per week per person from March
9, 2020. The detailed policies undertaken by the government
to enhancing personal hygiene measures are presented in the
Table S2 and supplementary text in Multimedia Appendix 1.
However, even if the public adheres to all the above-mentioned
preventive measures, doctors who consult outpatients are still
at high-risk of exposure. In order to reduce their risk, the
government has installed temperature-screening devices at the
entrances of hospitals and asked all visitors to complete a
self-questionnaire to be able to record their contact history and
travelling history, as well as fever and respiratory symptoms.
In addition, outpatient doctors are required to wear personal
protective equipment, including a mask, and to maintain a
distance of at least 2 meters from the patient [16]. For instance,
Severance Children’s Hospital in Seoul was able to successfully
adopt this policy to contain the spread of infection from the
outpatient to inpatient departments (see supplementary text in
Multimedia Appendix 1).
Discussion
In this study, we aimed to discuss how COVID-19 spread in
the community and health care institutions across South Korea;
review epidemiological characteristics of the disease; and
discuss how the government, health care providers, and society
responded to effectively prevent the spread of the disease.
Although SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly spread across the word,
affecting countries such as the USA, Italy, Spain, and the UK,
South Korea is the only country that has successfully flattened
the curve and managed to maintain a plateau with regard to new
COVID-19 infections even despite large outbreaks. Moreover,
it has managed to do so without China’s draconian restrictions
on speech and movement, or lockdowns with economic
consequences such as those in Europe and the USA [13,21].
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The South Korean government has been known for its effective
response to COVID-19, and the general public has been strictly
following quarantine guidelines [22]. Since the start of the
COVID-19 outbreak in Korea, health care workers as well as
the general public have been using masks and hand sanitizers
and practicing social distancing. As a result of these efforts, the
number of human contacts that a single resident makes per day
has been reduced to almost a hundredth compared to that before
the outbreak. In addition, thorough its quarantine and contact
tracing system, the government makes an effort to identify
undiagnosed patients immediately after patients receive a
confirmed diagnosis, by tracking their route and seeking the
infection source. Once someone is identified as a contact, he or
she is immediately asked to undergo self-isolation and their
health status is continuously monitored by the government.
Thus, they can be diagnosed in a timely manner and receive
treatments as soon as they show any relevant symptoms, thereby
lowering mortality and morbidity. Furthermore, through a
system such as a drive-through screening clinic, a large number
of diagnostic tests can be conducted quickly without threatening
the safety of patients and doctors. With these systems in place,
even asymptomatic patients are not missed, thus making Korea’s
COVID-19 statistics more reliable. With a population of 50
million, the country has substantially slowed down the spread
of the COVID-19 epidemic. South Korea reported only 113
new COVID-19 cases as of October 1, 2020, down from 813
cases at its first peak on February 29, 2020, and 441 at its second
peak on August 27, 2020 [4]. In particular, Seoul, which is the
most densely populated city in South Korea, effectively
prevented COVID-19 transmission, with only 5,323 (23%)
confirmed cases reported among a population of more than 9
million.
On April 11, 2020, the South Korean government announced
a new decision to use electronic wristbands for residents who
violate self-isolation rules, such as going outside without notice
and not answering phone calls. Although South Korea seems
to have succeeded in flattening the curve of COVID-19, some
concerns regarding privacy and human rights continue to persist
[23]. The Korean public still broadly supports the government’s
aggressive contact tracing and strict quarantine guidelines
because they believe these measures help prevent transmission
and maintain a safe public health system. Amid the prolonged
COVID-19 crisis, these measures should be accompanied with
a transparent and mature consensus process by the members of
society in order to protect the community and its people.
Authors' Contributions
KHJ, HJL, and JIS designed the study. KHJ and HJL collected the data and analyzed it. HJL and JL wrote the manuscript. JL,
KHL, YJH, SY, SR, DKK, and MBP edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest
None declared.
Multimedia Appendix 1
Epidemiological data for the study.
[PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 321 KB-Multimedia Appendix 1]
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Abbreviations
CDSCHQ: Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters
KCDC: Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
KDCA: Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency
NHIS: National Health Insurance System
WHO: World Health Organization
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Edited by G Eysenbach; submitted 03.07.20; peer-reviewed by M Asgari Mehrabadi, S Lalmuanawma; comments to author 17.09.20;
revised version received 11.10.20; accepted 24.10.20; published 10.12.20
Please cite as:
Jeong GH, Lee HJ, Lee J, Lee JY, Lee KH, Han YJ, Yoon S, Ryu S, Kim DK, Park MB, Yang JW, Effenberger M, Eisenhut M, Hong
SH, Kronbichler A, Ghayda RA, Shin JI
Effective Control of COVID-19 in South Korea: Cross-Sectional Study of Epidemiological Data
J Med Internet Res 2020;22(12):e22103
URL: http://www.jmir.org/2020/12/e22103/
doi: 10.2196/22103
PMID:
©Gwang Hun Jeong, Hyo Jeong Lee, Jinhee Lee, Jun Young Lee, Keum Hwa Lee, Young Joo Han, Sojung Yoon, Seohyun Ryu,
Da Kyung Kim, Myung Bae Park, Jae Won Yang, Maria Effenberger, Michael Eisenhut, Sung Hwi Hong, Andreas Kronbichler,
Ramy Abou Ghayda, Jae Il Shin. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org),
10.12.2020. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic
information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be
included.
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