page_title: COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
section_title: Impacts and reactions
hierarchical_section_title: COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea / Impacts and reactions
caption_attribution_description: English: A long line outside a pharmacy in Sejong City awaiting the store to open so they can buy masks.
context_page_description: The COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. On 20 January 2020, the first case in South Korea was announced. 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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 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 the 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.
  By 9 April 2020, South Korea had about 10,423 cases and 204 deaths, with over 494,711 people having been tested, a case fatality rate of 1.95%, which is lower than the WHO's global case fatality rate of 4.34%.
caption: Line outside a pharmacy in Sejong City awaiting the store to open so they can buy masks
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