key: cord-313292-w0ud098l
authors: Moradi, Hazhir; Vaezi, Atefeh
title: Lessons learned from Korea: COVID-19 pandemic
date: 2020-04-03
journal: Infection control and hospital epidemiology
DOI: 10.1017/ice.2020.104
sha: 
doc_id: 313292
cord_uid: w0ud098l

nan

appeared, and all of the places where the case patients had gone (eg, hotels, markets, and health facilities) were disinfected. 3 On February 21, when epidemiologic studies revealed 2 main sources of transmission, those places were defined as "special care zones" where a specialized team focused on controlling transmission, 9 and the alert level was elevated to the highest (severe). 10 Rapid diagnosis and widespread testing were other areas of focus in Korea. The proportion of confirmed to suspected cases varied from 0.5 in the initial days to 3.9 in the peak days. Early detection helped Korea eliminate the infection from the community and restrict it to health facilities, which is an essential aspect of outbreak response. Also, research teams started their work in the very early days to develop rapid tests, treatments, and vaccines. From January 31 onward, the 6-hour test was distributed in some health facilities, and from February 7 onward, all health facilities all around the country had this test. 10 Moreover, the KCDC started reporting the situation from January 20 onward to provide accurate and real-time data. These reports included the number of confirmed cases and patients under investigation, history of confirmed cases, and prevention advice for the public. The number of the KCDC call center has been mentioned in almost every report, and Koreans were asked not to travel to China and Wuhan, to avoid public outdoor activities, to cough or sneeze safely, and to wear masks when visiting a health center. Besides, the guideline for management and screening get updated whenever needed; travel to Wuhan which was in the definition of suspected cases where changed to travel to china, and finally omitted. 10 Altogether, the main goal of outbreak response in Korea was prevention of entrance of COVID-19 and at the same time, inhibition of the spread of the virus throughout the country. These goals were achieved through 3 main strategies: (1) containment and mitigation based on outbreak situation; (2) Risk communication to attract community participation; and (3) science-based and factdriven actions.

WHO director-general's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19. World Health Organization website

A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China

COVID-19) situation reports. World Health Organization website

World Health Organization. A Framework for Global Outbreak Alert and Response. Geneva: World Health Organization

Public health crisis preparedness and response in Korea

The first case of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia imported into Korea from Wuhan, China: implication for infection prevention and control measures

How to manage a public health crisis and bioterrorism in Korea

An update on the 2019-nCoV outbreak

Transmission potential of COVID-19 in South Korea

Press release: news room, 2020. Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website

Acknowledgments. None.Financial support. No financial support was provided relevant to this article.

All authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.
