JMIR Medical Informatics (Aug 2020)

Nationwide Results of COVID-19 Contact Tracing in South Korea: Individual Participant Data From an Epidemiological Survey

  • Lee, Seung Won,
  • Yuh, Woon Tak,
  • Yang, Jee Myung,
  • Cho, Yoon-Sik,
  • Yoo, In Kyung,
  • Koh, Hyun Yong,
  • Marshall, Dominic,
  • Oh, Donghwan,
  • Ha, Eun Kyo,
  • Han, Man Yong,
  • Yon, Dong Keon

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2196/20992
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 8
p. e20992

Abstract

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BackgroundEvidence regarding the effectiveness of contact tracing of COVID-19 and the related social distancing is limited and inconclusive. ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in South Korea and evaluate whether a social distancing campaign is effective in mitigating the spread of COVID-19. MethodsWe used contract tracing data to investigate the epidemic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in South Korea and evaluate whether a social distancing campaign was effective in mitigating the spread of COVID-19. We calculated the mortality rate for COVID-19 by infection type (cluster vs noncluster) and tested whether new confirmed COVID-19 trends changed after a social distancing campaign. ResultsThere were 2537 patients with confirmed COVID-19 who completed the epidemiologic survey: 1305 (51.4%) cluster cases and 1232 (48.6%) noncluster cases. The mortality rate was significantly higher in cluster cases linked to medical facilities (11/143, 7.70% vs 5/1232, 0.41%; adjusted percentage difference 7.99%; 95% CI 5.83 to 10.14) and long-term care facilities (19/221, 8.60% vs 5/1232, 0.41%; adjusted percentage difference 7.56%; 95% CI 5.66 to 9.47) than in noncluster cases. The change in trends of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases before and after the social distancing campaign was significantly negative in the entire cohort (adjusted trend difference –2.28; 95% CI –3.88 to –0.68) and the cluster infection group (adjusted trend difference –0.96; 95% CI –1.83 to –0.09). ConclusionsIn a nationwide contact tracing study in South Korea, COVID-19 linked to medical and long-term care facilities significantly increased the risk of mortality compared to noncluster COVID-19. A social distancing campaign decreased the spread of COVID-19 in South Korea and differentially affected cluster infections of SARS-CoV-2.