Response to COVID-19 in South Korea and implications for lifting stringent interventions.
Amy DigheLorenzo CattarinoGina Cuomo-DannenburgJanetta SkarpNatsuko ImaiSangeeta BhatiaKaty A M GaythorpeKylie E C AinslieMarc BaguelinSamir BhattAdhiratha BoonyasiriNicholas F BrazeauLaura V CooperHelen CouplandZulma CucunubaIlaria DorigattiOliver D EalesSabine L van ElslandRichard G FitzJohnWilliam D GreenDavid J HawWes HinsleyEdward KnockDaniel J LaydonThomas MellanSwapnil MishraGemma Nedjati-GilaniPierre NouvelletMargarita Pons-SalortHayley A ThompsonH Juliette T UnwinRobert VerityMichaela A C VollmerCaroline E WaltersOliver J WatsonCharles WhittakerLilith K WhittlesAzra C GhaniChristl A DonnellyNeil M FergusonSteven RileyPublished in: BMC medicine (2020)
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.