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. 2020 May;53(3):164-167.
doi: 10.3961/jpmph.20.088. Epub 2020 Apr 8.

The Delay in Confirming COVID-19 Cases Linked to a Religious Group in Korea

Hyung-Ju Kim  1 , Hyun-Seong Hwang  1 , Yong-Hyuk Choi  1 , Hye-Yeon Song  1 , Ji-Seong Park  1 , Chae-Young Yun  1 , Sukhyun Ryu  1
Affiliations

The Delay in Confirming COVID-19 Cases Linked to a Religious Group in Korea

Hyung-Ju Kim et al. J Prev Med Public Health. 2020 May.

Abstract

Objectives: As of March 3, 2020, the Shincheonji religious group accounted for the majority of Korean cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Nonetheless, the most likely cause of the broad spread of COVID-19 among members of the Shincheonji religious group remains largely unknown.

Methods: We obtained data of laboratory-confirmed cases related to the Shincheonji religious group from press releases by Korean public health authorities and news reports. We measured the period from the date of illness onset to the date of COVID-19 confirmation.

Results: We analysed data from 59 cases (median age, 30 years). The estimated median period between the date of symptom onset and the date of COVID-19 confirmation was 4 days (95% confidence interval, 1-12).

Conclusions: There was a delay in COVID-19 confirmation from the date of illness onset among the cases linked to the Shincheonji religious group. This delay likely contributed to the occurrence of many cases of COVID-19 in the group.

Keywords: Coronavirus; Korea; Religious belief; Transmission.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors have no conflicts of interest associated with the material presented in this paper.

Figures

Figure. 1.
Figure. 1.
The time delay of coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19) infections related to the Shincheonji religious group in Korea, as of March 3, 2020. (A) Curve according to the date of laboratory confirmation (n=57). (B) Curve according to the date of illness onset for confirmed cases. (C) The estimated time interval for the confirmation of COVID-19 in laboratoryconfirmed cases using the gamma distribution.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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