The first case of COVID-19 in South Korea was announced on 20 January 2020. The number of confirmed cases increased on 19 February by 20, and on 20 February by 58 or 70, giving a total of 346 confirmed cases on 21 February 2020, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), with the sudden jump mostly attributed to "Patient 31" who participated in a gathering at a Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony church in Daegu.
Amidst fears of further contamination, mass gatherings in the affected cities were cancelled and about 300 soldiers in Daegu were placed in isolation. On 4 February 2020, in order to help prevent spread of the disease, South Korea began denying entry to foreigners traveling from Hubei Province in China.
South Korea introduced what was considered one of the largest and best-organised epidemic control programs in the world, along with Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Various measures were taken to mass test the population for the virus, and isolate any infected people as well as trace and quarantine those they had contact with, without any further lockdown. The rapid and extensive testing undertaken by South Korea was initially successful in limiting the spread of the outbreak, without using the drastic measure of locking down entire cities. A significant rise in the number of new infections began in August 2020, with clusters being linked to Protestant churches in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. Another rise began in the third week of November, and Seoul entered a third wave of infections. On 24 November, the government raised the social distancing level in Seoul to level 2. On 29 November, the social distancing level in other areas of the country was raised to 1.5. In December, it was raised to level 2.5 in some metropolitan areas and 2 in other areas.
In early 2022, there was a major spike in cases related to the Omicron variant, with 170 thousand cases reported on February 22. South Korea began relaxing social distancing rules on 4 March 2022, and announced a shift toward endemic living on 18 March. It lifted its vaccine mandate and quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated travelers on 1 April. The number of new daily reported cases peaked at 621,317 on 16 March 2022, and the number of daily deaths peaked at 432 on 29 March 2022.
Timeline
During the first four weeks, South Korea controlled the potential spread of COVID-19 by using high-tech resources like tracking the use of credit cards and checking CCTV footage of confirmed patients. After 18 February, the number of cases increased to more than 1,700 after discovering that patient number 31 was a member of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. Some media reported that it was difficult for KCDC to screen the patient because Shincheonji teaches that illness is sin, and that members were uncooperative with KCDC and were out of reach. Shincheonji denied this, and other sources report that the sect did cooperate with the authorities. About half of confirmed cases were linked to the Shincheonji Church as of 27 February; this was verified by health officials. As of 10 March, the KCDC was able to contact and test most of the Shincheonji Church members, with the total number of tests nationally standing at around 200,000.
20 January – 17 February 2020
On 20 January, a 35-year-old Chinese woman was confirmed as the first case. The first South Korean national to be infected occurred three days later, a 55-year-old man who worked in Wuhan, China, and returned for a checkup with flu symptoms. The two infection reports were publicly released on 24 January.
On 26 January, a 54-year-old South Korean man was the third case. He had used a rental car and visited three restaurants, a hotel, a convenience store and met his family before admitting himself to hospital. All these places were disinfected. On 27 January, a fourth case was reported as a 55-year-old South Korean man who returned from Wuhan on 20 January. He first experienced flu symptoms on 21 January and developed further complications four days later, eventually turning himself in. Both cases were tallied into formal records on 27 January.
On 1 February, an update on the first four patients was received. It indicated that the first three were showing weaker symptoms and recovering well while the fourth was being treated for pneumonia. Rumours circulated that the fourth patient had died, while the health authorities denied the rumours.
Two more confirmed cases were reported on 30 January. The fifth patient was a 32-year-old South Korean man who returned from his work at Wuhan on 24 January. The sixth patient was the first case in South Korea who had never visited Wuhan. The 56-year-old man caught the virus when visiting a restaurant with the third patient.
On 31 January, a seventh patient was reported as a 28-year-old South Korean man returning from Wuhan on 23 January. He developed symptoms on 26 January 2020 and was admitted to hospital on 28 January. On the same day, four more patients were admitted into the record. The eighth patient, a 62-year-old South Korean woman, returned from Wuhan. The ninth patient caught the virus from the fifth patient through direct contact. The tenth and the eleventh patients were the wife and child of the sixth patient, who became infected while visiting him.
On 1 February, a 49-year-old Chinese national working in Japan as a tour guide was confirmed as the twelfth patient. He caught the virus while visiting a Japanese patient in Japan and entered South Korea through Gimpo International Airport on 19 January. The KCDC confirmed an additional three cases on 2 February, bringing the total to fifteen.
A woman who had returned from a five-day vacation in Thailand tested positive and was confirmed as the sixteenth case on 4 February. Three more cases were confirmed on 5 February, taking the total to 19. The seventeenth and nineteenth patients had attended a conference in Singapore and been in contact with an infected individual there. The same day the KCDC announced that the second patient had been released from hospital after testing negative in consecutive tests, becoming the country's first coronavirus patient to fully recover.
On 15 February, a workshop for fitness dance instructors was held in Cheonan. By 9 March, dance classes at 12 sport facilities were associated with 112 cases of COVID-19. 30 of the cases were asymptomatic at the time of laboratory confirmation. 50.9 percent of cases were from instructors to fitness class participants, 33.9 percent were transmissions to family members by instructors or class participants, and 15.2 percent were during meetings with acquaintances or coworkers.
+ Case Date Age Gender Nationality Place of stay Hospital of admission Visited Wuhan? Entry date Status Contacts of the case Note Source120 January 202035FemaleChineseIncheonIncheon Metropolitan City Medical Center, IncheonYes19 January 2020Discharged (6 February 2020)45224 January 202055MaleKoreanSeoulNational Medical Center, SeoulYes22 January 2020Discharged (5 February 2020)75326 January 202054MaleKoreanGoyangMyongji Hospital, GoyangYes20 January 2020Discharged (12 February 2020)16427 January 202055MaleKoreanPyeongtaekSeoul National University Bundang Hospital, SeongnamYes20 January 2020Discharged (9 February 2020)95530 January 202033MaleKoreanSeoulSeoul Metropolitan City Seoul Medical Center, SeoulYes24 January 2020Discharged (March 2020)31630 January 202055MaleKoreanSeoulSeoul National University Hospital, SeoulNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (19 February 2020)17Friend of case 3730 January 202028MaleKoreanSeoulSeoul Metropolitan City Seoul Medical Center, SeoulYes23 January 2020Discharged (15 February 2020)9831 January 202062FemaleKoreanGunsanWonkwang University Hospital, IksanYes23 January 2020Discharged (12 February 2020)113931 January 202028FemaleKoreanSeoulSeoul Metropolitan City Seoul Medical Center, SeoulNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (24 February 2020)2Friend of case 51031 January 202054FemaleKoreanSeoulSeoul National University Hospital, SeoulNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (19 February 2020)43Wife of case 61131 January 202025MaleKoreanSeoulSeoul National University Hospital, SeoulNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (10 February 2020)43Son of case 6121 February 202048MaleChineseBucheonSeoul National University Bundang Hospital, SeongnamNo19 January 2020 (Japan)Discharged (18 February 2020)422Related to Japanese confirmed case132 February 202028MaleKoreanAsanNational Medical Center, SeoulYes31 January 2020Discharged (24 February 2020)0Passenger on the evacuation flights from Wuhan142 February 202040FemaleChineseBucheonSeoul National University Bundang Hospital, SeongnamNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (18 February 2020)3Wife of case 12152 February 202043MaleKoreanSuwonKorean Armed Forces Capital Hospital, SeongnamYes20 January 2020Discharged (24 February 2020)15164 February 202042FemaleKoreanGwangjuChonnam National University Hospital, GwangjuNo19 January 2020 (Thailand)Discharged (19 February 2020)450175 February 202037MaleKoreanGuriMyongji Hospital, GoyangNo24 January 2020 (Singapore)Discharged (12 February 2020)290Related to cases at Grand Hyatt Singapore185 February 202020FemaleKoreanGwangjuChonnam National University Hospital, GwangjuNo19 January 2020 (Thailand)Discharged (19 February 2020)8Daughter of case 16195 February 202036MaleKoreanSeoulSeoul Metropolitan City Seoul Medical Center, SeoulNo23 January 2020 (Singapore)Discharged (21 February 2020)68Related to cases at Grand Hyatt Singapore205 February 202041FemaleKoreanSuwonKorean Armed Forces Capital Hospital, SeongnamNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (24 February 2020)2Sister-in-law of case 15215 February 202059FemaleKoreanSeoulSeoul National University Hospital, SeoulNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (29 February 2020)6Friend of case 6226 February 202046MaleKoreanNajuChosun University Hospital, GwangjuNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (15 February 2020)1Brother of case 16236 February 202057FemaleChineseSeoulNational Medical Center, SeoulYes23 January 2020Discharged (29 February 2020)23246 February 202028MaleKoreanAsanNational Medical Center, SeoulYes31 January 2020Discharged (27 February 2020)0Passenger on the evacuation flights from Wuhan259 February 202073FemaleKoreanSiheungSeoul National University Bundang Hospital, SeongnamNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (5 March 2020)12Mother of case 26269 February 202051MaleKoreanSiheungGyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Anseong Hospital, AnseongNo31 January 2020 (Guangdong)Discharged (8 March 2020)12279 February 202037FemaleChineseSiheungGyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Anseong Hospital, AnseongNo31 January 2020 (Guangdong)Discharged (7 March 2020)38Wife of case 262810 February 202030FemaleChineseGoyangMyongji Hospital, GoyangYes20 January 2020Discharged (17 February 2020)1Friend of case 32916 February 202082MaleKoreanSeoulSeoul National University Hospital, SeoulNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (March 2020)117Friend of case 833016 February 202068FemaleKoreanSeoulSeoul National University Hospital, SeoulNo(Infection in Domestic)Discharged (March 2020)27Wife of case 29
18 February – 29 February
On 18 February, South Korea confirmed its 31st case in Daegu, a member of the Shincheonji religious organisation. The patient continued to go to gatherings of Shincheonji days after showing symptoms, which are typically held with people in very close proximity and include physical contact of the members. Many of the patient's close contacts would turn out to be infected, triggering a drastic escalation of the South Korean spread of confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection.