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:10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.4.16

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

Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2020 Aug;11(4):259-264. doi: 10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.4.16.

Authors

Shin Young Park¹, Gawon Choi², Hyeyoung Lee¹, Na-Young Kim¹, Seon-Young Lee¹, Kyungnam Kim¹, Soyoung Shin³, Eunsu Jang³, YoungSin Moon⁴, KwangHwan Oh⁵, JaeRin Choi⁶, Sangeun Lee¹, Young-Man Kim¹, Jieun Kim¹, Seonju Yi¹, Jin Gwack¹, Ok Park¹, Young Joon Park¹

Affiliations

¹ Central Disease Control Headquarters, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cheongju, Korea.
² Infectious Disease Management Division, Gyeonggi Provincial Office, Suwon, Korea.
³ Health Administration Department, Gunpo Health Center, Gunpo, Korea.
⁴ Director of Public Health Center, Guro-gu Health Center, Seoul, Korea.
⁵ Regional Health Department, Guro-gu Health Center, Seoul, Korea.
⁶ Health Administration Department, Guro-gu Health Center, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

This study describes the epidemiological characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) based on reported cases from long-term care facilities. As of April 20^th, 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.

Keywords: COVID-19; housing for the elderly; long-term care.