Abstract
Nonpharmaceutical intervention has been one of the most important strategies to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 in the communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Korea has a unique experience that we had the first large outbreak during the early pandemic and could flatten the epidemic curve without lockdown. In this study, the effective reproductive numbers were calculated for the entire nation and Seoul (the capital city) Metropolitan Area from February 16–15 July, where 60% of the population reside. We compared the changes in population mobility data and reproductive number trends according to the changes in the government’s nonpharmaceutical intervention strategy. The total daily mobility decreased when Korea had the first wave of a large outbreak in February–March 2020, which was mainly caused by the decrease of daily noncommuting mobility. However, daily commuting mobility from 16 February to 30 June 2020 was maintained at a similar level since there was no national lockdown for workers who commute between home and work. During the first half-year of 2020, Korea could control the outbreak to a manageable level without a significant decrease in daily public mobility. However, it may be only possible when the public follows personal hygiene principles and social distancing without crisis fatigue or reduced compliance.
Highlights
Since unidentified pneumonia cases were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) byChina in December 2019, a novel infectious virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2(SARS-CoV-2), has spread globally [1]
We addressed the changes in population mobility data and trends of the reproductive number were compared and analyzed according to the changes in the government’s nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPI) strategy
The results of this study need to be interpreted with caution because NPIs were accompanied by intensive contact tracing, quarantine and testing even asymptomatic contacts
Summary
Since unidentified pneumonia cases were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) byChina in December 2019, a novel infectious virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2(SARS-CoV-2), has spread globally [1]. Since unidentified pneumonia cases were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by. China in December 2019, a novel infectious virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. (SARS-CoV-2), has spread globally [1]. The Republic of Korea is the third country where a patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was identified outside of China [2]. With intensive contact tracing and active quarantine policies, the epidemic seemed to be totally controlled to prevent local transmission. On 16 February, a case without travel history and any epidemiological link. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 9551; doi:10.3390/ijerph17249551 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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