Author/Authors :
Kim, Je Hyeong Department of Critical Care Medicine - Korea University Ansan Hospital - Korea University College of Medicine Ansan, Korea , Hong, Suk-Kyung Department of Surgery - Asan Medical Center - University of Ulsan College of Medicine - Seoul, Korea , Kim, Younghwan Department of Surgery - National Medical Center - Seoul, Korea , Ryu, Ho Geol Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine - Seoul National University Hospital - Seoul National University College of Medicine - Seoul, Korea , Park, Chi-Min Department of Critical Care Medicine - Samsung Medical Center - Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine - Seoul, Korea , Lee, Young Seok Department of Internal Medicine - Korea University Guro Hospital - Korea University College of Medicine - Seoul, Korea , Hong, Sung Jin Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine - Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital - College of Medicine - The Catholic University of Korea - Seoul, Korea
Abstract :
South Korea confirmed its first case of Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) on January 20,
2020. Starting from the outbreak of confirmed cases at a religious group in Daegu on February 18, 2020, the accumulated number of confirmed cases spiked from three digits to four between February 26 and April 3, 2020. The death rate continued to rise since the first reported
death on February 20, 2020. The number of newly confirmed case per day has declined since
hitting a record high of 909 on February 29, dropping to less than 10 since May 4. As of May
15, 2020, the overall death rate of COVID-19 in South Korea is 2.36%, with 74.8% of the total
confirmed cases and 89.6% of deaths occurring in Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do [1]. The regional bias of the entire confirmed and deceased was difficult to handle with medical resources in Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do, and it is believed that there would have been greater
difficulties in intensive care, especially for critically ill patients.
