How South Korea Responded to the Covid-19 Outbreak in Daegu

Abstract

Despite facing similar challenges as other large cities-shortages of personal protective equipment, inpatient beds, and health care workers-the rate of Covid-19 infections among health care workers in Daegu remained lower than the rates experienced by its counterparts. Health system leaders and public health officials in Daegu mobilized a regional reorganization of the health system along with several hospital-level interventions that concentrated resources and equipment, relieved shortages, and ultimately protected health care workers and patients. Soon after February 18, 2020, when health officials in Daegu discovered the first case of Covid-19 in the city of more than 2.4 million in southeast South Korea, the situation escalated rapidly. More than 2,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases were reported by February 29, and over 5,000 by March 7. For the medical system of the city of Daegu, one of the earliest consequences of the surge in Covid-19 cases was a shortage of hospital beds, supplies, and health care workers. In 2015, South Korea had the largest Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak outside of the Middle East. At least 186 patients were infected with the virus and 38 people died. Many of these cases were determined to have come from nosocomial infections with an index case believed to have visited four different medical facilities before being diagnosed with MERS.1 , 2 As a result of significant in-hospital transmissions, several safeguards were put into place to prevent the same issue in future outbreaks, including an increased number of negative-pressure isolation rooms and stocking up on personal protective equipment (PPE).