Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives (Aug 2020)

Early Intervention Reduces the Spread of COVID-19 in Long-Term Care Facilities in the Republic of Korea

  • Shin Young Park,
  • Gawon Choi,
  • Hyeyoung Lee,
  • Na-young Kim,
  • Seon-young Lee,
  • Kyungnam Kim,
  • Soyoung Shin,
  • Eunsu Jang,
  • YoungSin Moon,
  • KwangHwan Oh,
  • JaeRin Choi,
  • Sangeun Lee,
  • Young-Man Kim,
  • Jieun Kim,
  • Seonju Yi,
  • Jin Gwack,
  • Ok Park,
  • Young Joon Park

DOI
https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.4.16
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 4
pp. 259 – 264

Abstract

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This study describes the epidemiological characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) based on reported cases from long-term care facilities. As of April 20th, 2020, 3 long-term care facilities in a metropolitan area of South Korea had reported cases of COVID-19. These facilities’ employees were presumed to be the sources of infection. There were 2 nursing hospitals that did not report any additional cases. One nursing home had a total of 25 cases, with an attack rate of 51.4% (95% CI 35.6–67.0), and a fatality rate of 38.9% (95% CI 20.3–61.4) among residents. The results from this study suggest that early detection and maintenance of infection control minimizes the risk of rapid transmission.

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