scholarly journals Investigation of a nosocomial outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 in a paediatric ward in South Korea: successful control by early detection and extensive contact tracing with testing

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 1574-1575 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jung ◽  
M.J. Hong ◽  
E.O. Kim ◽  
J. Lee ◽  
M.-N. Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Detection ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Nosocomial Outbreak ◽  
Paediatric Ward ◽  
Successful Control

scholarly journals Safe contact tracing for COVID-19: A method without privacy breach using functional encryption techniques based-on spatio-temporal trajectory data

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0242758
Author(s):  
Wooil Kim ◽  
Hyubjin Lee ◽  
Yon Dohn Chung
Keyword(s):  
Early Detection ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Functional Encryption ◽  
Trajectory Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Privacy Breach ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Temporal Trajectory ◽  
Tracing Method

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread all over the globe. In the absence of a vaccine, a small number of countries have managed to control the diffusion of viruses by early detection and early quarantine. South Korea, one of the countries which have kept the epidemics well-controlled, has opened the infected patients’ trajectory to the public. Such a reaction has been regarded as an effective method, however, serious privacy breach cases have been issued in South Korea. Furthermore, some suspected contacts have refused to take infection tests because they are afraid of being exposed. To solve this problem, we propose a privacy-preserving contact tracing method based on spatio-temporal trajectory which can be practically used in many quarantine systems. In addition, we develop a system to visualize the contact tracing workflow.

scholarly journals Safe contact tracing for COVID-19: A method without privacy breach using functional encryption techniques based-on spatio-temporal trajectory data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wooil Kim ◽  
Hyubjin Lee ◽  
Yon Dohn Chung
Keyword(s):  
Early Detection ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Functional Encryption ◽  
Trajectory Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Privacy Breach ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Temporal Trajectory ◽  
Tracing Method

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread all over the globe. In the absence of a vaccine, a small number of countries have managed to control the diffusion of viruses by early detection and early quarantine. South Korea, one of the countries which have kept the epidemics well-controlled, has opened the infected patients' trajectory to the public. Such a reaction has been regarded as an effective method, however, serious privacy breach cases have been issued in South Korea. Furthermore, some suspected contacts have refused to take infection tests because they are afraid of being exposed. To solve this problem, we propose a privacy-preserving contact tracing method based on spatio-temporal trajectory which can be practically used in many quarantine systems. In addition, we develop a system to visualize the contact tracing workflow.

scholarly journals Transmission dynamics of the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Daejeon, South Korea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hari Hwang ◽  
Jun-Sik Lim ◽  
Sun-Ah Song ◽  
Chiara Achangwa ◽  
Woobeom Sim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Symptom Onset ◽  
Credible Interval ◽  
Transmission Dynamics ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Nasopharyngeal Swab ◽  
Strict Adherence ◽  
Virus Shedding ◽  
Viral Shedding ◽  
Asymptomatic Patients

Abstract Background The delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is now the predominant variant worldwide. However, its transmission dynamics remain unclear. Methods We analyzed all case patients in local clusters and temporal patterns of viral shedding using contact tracing data from 405 cases associated with the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 between 22 June and 31 July 2021 in Daejeon, South Korea. Results Overall, half of the cases were aged under 19 years, and 20% were asymptomatic at the time of epidemiological investigation. We estimated the mean serial interval as 3.26 days (95% credible interval 2.92, 3.60), and 12% of the transmission occurred before symptom onset of the infector. We identified six clustered outbreaks, and all were associated with indoor facilities. In 23 household contacts, the secondary attack rate was 63% (52/82). We estimated that 15% (95% confidence interval, 13–18%) of cases seeded 80% of all local transmission. Analysis of the nasopharyngeal swab samples identified virus shedding from asymptomatic patients, and the highest viral load was observed two days after symptom onset. The temporal pattern of viral shedding did not differ between children and adults (P = 0.48). Conclusions Our findings suggest that the delta variant is highly transmissible in indoor settings and households. Rapid contact tracing, isolation of the asymptomatic contacts, and strict adherence to public health measures are needed to mitigate the community transmission of the delta variant.

scholarly journals Response to COVID-19 in South Korea and implications for lifting stringent interventions

BMC Medicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Dighe ◽  
Lorenzo Cattarino ◽  
Gina Cuomo-Dannenburg ◽  
Janetta Skarp ◽  
Natsuko Imai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Early Adoption ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Sharp Growth ◽  
Seoul Metropolitan Region

Abstract Background After experiencing a sharp growth in COVID-19 cases early in the pandemic, South Korea rapidly controlled transmission while implementing less stringent national social distancing measures than countries in Europe and the USA. This has led to substantial interest in their “test, trace, isolate” strategy. However, it is important to understand the epidemiological peculiarities of South Korea’s outbreak and characterise their response before attempting to emulate these measures elsewhere. Methods We systematically extracted numbers of suspected cases tested, PCR-confirmed cases, deaths, isolated confirmed cases, and numbers of confirmed cases with an identified epidemiological link from publicly available data. We estimated the time-varying reproduction number, Rt, using an established Bayesian framework, and reviewed the package of interventions implemented by South Korea using our extracted data, plus published literature and government sources. Results We estimated that after the initial rapid growth in cases, Rt dropped below one in early April before increasing to a maximum of 1.94 (95%CrI, 1.64–2.27) in May following outbreaks in Seoul Metropolitan Region. By mid-June, Rt was back below one where it remained until the end of our study (July 13th). Despite less stringent “lockdown” measures, strong social distancing measures were implemented in high-incidence areas and studies measured a considerable national decrease in movement in late February. Testing the capacity was swiftly increased, and protocols were in place to isolate suspected and confirmed cases quickly; however, we could not estimate the delay to isolation using our data. Accounting for just 10% of cases, individual case-based contact tracing picked up a relatively minor proportion of total cases, with cluster investigations accounting for 66%. Conclusions Whilst early adoption of testing and contact tracing is likely to be important for South Korea’s successful outbreak control, other factors including regional implementation of strong social distancing measures likely also contributed. The high volume of testing and the low number of deaths suggest that South Korea experienced a small epidemic relative to other countries. Caution is needed in attempting to replicate the South Korean response in populations with larger more geographically widespread epidemics where finding, testing, and isolating cases that are linked to clusters may be more difficult.

scholarly journals In defence of digital contact-tracing: human rights, South Korea and Covid-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 383-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Content Type ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Media ◽  
Scientific Value

Purpose The media has even been very critical of some East Asian countries’ use of digital contact-tracing to control Covid-19. For example, South Korea has been criticised for its use of privacy-infringing digital contact-tracing. However, whether their type of digital contact-tracing was unnecessarily harmful to the human rights of Korean citizens is open for debate. The purpose of this paper is to examine this criticism to see if Korea’s digital contact-tracing is ethically justifiable. Design/methodology/approach This paper will evaluate Korea’s digital contact-tracing through the lens of the four human rights principles to determine if their response is ethically justifiable. These four principles were originally outlined in the European Court of Human Rights, namely, necessary, proportional, scientifically valid and time-bounded (European Court of Human Rights 1950). Findings The paper will propose that while the use of Korea’s digital contact-tracing was scientifically valid and proportionate (albeit, in need for improvements), it meets the necessity requirement, but is too vague to meet the time-boundedness requirement. Originality/value The Covid-19 pandemic has proven to be one of the worst threats to human health and the global economy in the past century. There have been many different strategies to tackle the pandemic, from somewhat laissez-faire approaches, herd immunity, to strict draconian measures. Analysis of the approaches taken in the response to the pandemic is of high scientific value and this paper is one of the first to critically engage with one of these methods – digital contact-tracing in South Korea.

scholarly journals COVID-19 in South Korea

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (1137) ◽  
pp. 399-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Yong Choi
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Reproduction Number ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Major Contributor ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Underlying Diseases

A novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome-CoV-2) that initially originated from Wuhan, China, in December 2019 has already caused a pandemic. While this novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) frequently induces mild diseases, it has also generated severe diseases among certain populations, including older-aged individuals with underlying diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. As of 31 March 2020, a total of 9786 confirmed cases with COVID-19 have been reported in South Korea. South Korea has the highest diagnostic rate for COVID-19, which has been the major contributor in overcoming this outbreak. We are trying to reduce the reproduction number of COVID-19 to less than one and eventually succeed in controlling this outbreak using methods such as contact tracing, quarantine, testing, isolation, social distancing and school closure. This report aimed to describe the current situation of COVID-19 in South Korea and our response to this outbreak.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document