Coronavirus Disease-19: The First 7,755 Cases in the Republic of Korea

Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2020 Apr;11(2):85-90. doi: 10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.2.05.

Abstract

We report the first 7,755 patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Korea as of March 12th, 2020. A total of 66 deaths have been recorded, giving a case fatality proportion of 0.9%. Older people, and those with comorbidities were at a higher risk of a fatal outcome. The highest number of cases of COVID-19 were in Daegu, followed by Gyeongbuk. This summary may help to understand the disease dynamics in the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreaks, and may therefore, guide future public health measures.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; epidemiology.