Contact Tracing Results of the First Confirmed COVID-19 Case in the Republic of Korea

On December 31st, 2019 the China National Health Commission (NHC) reported that

an unknown cause of pneumonia had been detected in Wuhan in Hubei province.

The NHC later confirmed that the infection was

a novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia (NCIP).

On February 12th, the disease caused by novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

has a formal name, COVID-19.

On January 20th, 2020, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Korea.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a case study of the first COVID-19 infection and the aim was to offer suggestions to public health workers on how to prepare for future pandemics. More specifically, this study explored the results of epidemiological investigations focused on preventing the spread of an infectious disease by identifying contacts when the first confirmed case occurs. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) conducted a contact tracing survey immediately after the first case was confirmed. According to the epidemiology report, 45 people were classified as active monitoring cases. They were supervised by a quarantine station and public health centers for 14 days. During the surveillance period, four potential cases occurred but the Pancoronavirus test (Conventional RT-PCR) and the gene sequencing tests came back negative for COVID-19. On February 3rd, 2020, surveillance was lifted for these cases.

 

Figure 1. The route taken by the first confirmed case of COVID-19 upon arrival at Incheon Airport, Korea

 

Figure 2. The seat used on an international flight by the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Korea

 

 

출처: 질병관리본부