Six months of COVID-19 in South Korea
- 4 years ago
코로나19가 집어삼킨 지난 6개월...예측불허 장기전으로
Six months ago to this day,... South Korea confirmed its very first COVID-19 patient.
The number of confirmed cases in the nation is now close to 14-thousand.
The pandemic not only had great impact on the economy, but has also changed many facets of our daily lives.
Our Choi Jeong-yoon has this report.
When South Korea saw its first novel coronavirus case on January 20th, few will have expected the battle to prolong for six months.
Korea's first reported case was a Chinese woman arriving from Wuhan, China - where the virus originated.
The country then saw less than 30 cases for the month -- mostly imported.
Then in February, a spike in transmissions linked to the Shincheonji religious group caused the virus to spread rapidly in the southeastern city of Daegu...with over 900 cases reported in a single day.
Hospitals had bed shortages leading to fatalities at home due to a lack of treatment.
In a country where schools pushed ahead even in the midst of a war, COVID-19 forced them to close and eventually restart ONLINE.
In March, cases broke out sporadically across the nation,...with the capital's biggest cluster infection stemming from a call center.
Strict social distancing measures were put in place,...prohibiting gyms, religious and entertainment facilities from opening.
A face mask shortage forced authorities to implement a five-day rotation system which permitted people to buy a limited number of masks on a designated day of the week.
Then, 74 days after the outbreak began, the country surpassed the 10-thousand mark of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
But, with contact tracing and quarantine measures, the number of daily cases that once exceeded one-hundred per day reduced to single digits by April.
Then in May, signs of a possible second wave emerged...with cluster infections at Itaewon nightlife venues.
Since then, there have been a series of group transmissions stemming from door-to-door sales companies in Daejeon and Gwangju.
"At this point, no country can predict when, or how bad, the peak of this pandemic will be. Imported cases from abroad account for most of the new infections. Infections in communities continue to occur at a relatively small scale."
Health authorities point out that COVID-19 is now part of our daily lives but adhering to self-quarantine measures will help keep the virus out.
Choi Jeong-yoon, Arirang News.
Six months ago to this day,... South Korea confirmed its very first COVID-19 patient.
The number of confirmed cases in the nation is now close to 14-thousand.
The pandemic not only had great impact on the economy, but has also changed many facets of our daily lives.
Our Choi Jeong-yoon has this report.
When South Korea saw its first novel coronavirus case on January 20th, few will have expected the battle to prolong for six months.
Korea's first reported case was a Chinese woman arriving from Wuhan, China - where the virus originated.
The country then saw less than 30 cases for the month -- mostly imported.
Then in February, a spike in transmissions linked to the Shincheonji religious group caused the virus to spread rapidly in the southeastern city of Daegu...with over 900 cases reported in a single day.
Hospitals had bed shortages leading to fatalities at home due to a lack of treatment.
In a country where schools pushed ahead even in the midst of a war, COVID-19 forced them to close and eventually restart ONLINE.
In March, cases broke out sporadically across the nation,...with the capital's biggest cluster infection stemming from a call center.
Strict social distancing measures were put in place,...prohibiting gyms, religious and entertainment facilities from opening.
A face mask shortage forced authorities to implement a five-day rotation system which permitted people to buy a limited number of masks on a designated day of the week.
Then, 74 days after the outbreak began, the country surpassed the 10-thousand mark of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
But, with contact tracing and quarantine measures, the number of daily cases that once exceeded one-hundred per day reduced to single digits by April.
Then in May, signs of a possible second wave emerged...with cluster infections at Itaewon nightlife venues.
Since then, there have been a series of group transmissions stemming from door-to-door sales companies in Daejeon and Gwangju.
"At this point, no country can predict when, or how bad, the peak of this pandemic will be. Imported cases from abroad account for most of the new infections. Infections in communities continue to occur at a relatively small scale."
Health authorities point out that COVID-19 is now part of our daily lives but adhering to self-quarantine measures will help keep the virus out.
Choi Jeong-yoon, Arirang News.