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Pathway of secondary and tertiary coronavirus transmissions

Workers sanitize a KTX train in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Feb. 6. (Kang Chang-kwang, staff photographer)

The 23rd confirmed novel coronavirus patient in South Korea was not contacted after her arrival from Wuhan, a Chinese city that has experienced a large number of infections, it was confirmed.

A full-scale survey of individuals arriving from Wuhan by public health authorities found 29 whose whereabouts had not been ascertained as of Feb. 6. The fact that some patients -- like the 23rd -- are developing symptoms later on after showing none at the time of their arrival is triggering concerns about infections within the local community for which infection pathways will be difficult to determine.

On Feb. 6, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced four additional diagnoses of novel coronavirus infections, including a 58-year-old Chinese woman (the 23rd patient) who arrived in South Korea from Wuhan. The 23rd patient, who entered South Korea on Jan. 23, tested positive after fever symptoms were observed at a local clinic examination. The patient entered South Korea to see one of her children who is currently studying at a university in South Chungcheong Province, and while she arrived from Wuhan, she was not detected by the airport quarantine network because she did not exhibit symptoms early on.

“Since she is a resident of Wuhan, it appears unlikely that she became infected in South Korea,” the headquarters said of the 23rd patient on Feb. 6.

“It appears more likely that she arrived from Wuhan already infected and developed symptoms [in South Korea],” it explained. Seven other Chinese nationals who were with her have all tested negative.

Public health authorities have been conducting a full-scale investigation of individuals who arrived in South Korea from Wuhan between Jan. 23 and 26 in preparation for possible novel coronavirus infections in local communities. A total of 2,991 people was targeted for investigation. According to the KCDC, 271 people are currently being monitored, which doesn’t include the 1,568 people (as of 3 pm on Feb. 5) who have left South Korea or have remained asymptomatic past the incubation period. The investigation was launched on Jan. 28 at the direction of President Moon Jae-in.

The problem is the inability to confirm the presence or absence of symptoms in 29 foreign nationals whom the government has not been able to contact. In the case of the 23rd patient, the city of Seoul and the police were able to determine and communicate to the local district office on Feb. 5 that she had been staying in the city’s Seodaemun District. But for the other individuals who have remained out of reach, no means exist for tracking their whereabouts. The 23rd patient was also determined to have made a report to the KCDC call center after developing symptoms at roughly the same time.

“It ended up having at almost exactly the same time,” a Seodaemun District Office official said. “The address overlapped, and the health office staff went to the location to take a sample and isolate her.”

Jung Eun-kyeong, KCDC director, said, “While it is a bit difficult to ascertain the whereabouts of foreign nationals, the National Police Agency is employing closed circuit camera tracking and other investigation methods to identify the individuals’ locations, and local governments are proactively managing the foreign nationals identified through those channels.”

Details on the 23rd patient’s movements between her arrival in South Korea on Jan. 23 and confirmed diagnosis on Feb. 6 have not yet been disclosed.

By Park Su-ji and Park Hyun-jung, staff reporters

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