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OBJECTIVES: The first confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in South Korea was reported in January 2020, with 28 confirmed cases reported as of February 14th, 2020. The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of all 28 cases were analyzed in response to this disease. METHODS: The epidemiological characteristics and early clinical features of the 28 patients from Korea with confirmed COVID-19 were analyzed using COVID-19 reporting and surveillance data and the epidemiological investigation reports prepared by the rapid response team. RESULTS: There were 16 patients that entered Korea from foreign countries: Wuhan, China (11 patients), Zhuhai, China, (1 patient), Singapore (2 patients), Japan (1 patient), and Thailand (1 patient). The early symptoms were fever, sore throat, cough or sputum production, chills, and muscle ache. Three patients were asymptomatic, however, 18 developed pneumonia. Of the 28 cases, 16 were index cases imported from abroad, with 10 cases of secondary infection originating in Korea, and the route of transmission still under investigation for 2 patients. The 10 patients with secondary infection were infected from contact with family members or acquaintances of primary patients, and the suspected sites of transmission were mostly at home. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 in Korea was spread by 16 infected individuals traveling from other countries, leading to second-generation cases. The initial symptoms were mostly minor, but the disease was infectious at this stage, resulting from close contact, particularly at home. Establishing an early detection strategy for COVID-19 is crucial for managing the transmission of the disease.

Exploring bifunctional electrocatalysts to lower the activation energy barriers for sluggish electrochemical reactions for both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are of great importance in achieving lower energy consumption and higher conversion efficiency for future energy conversion and storage system. Despite the excellent performance of precious metal-based electrocatalysts for OER and ORR, their high cost and scarcity hamper their large-scale industrial application. As alternatives to precious metal-based electrocatalysts, the development of earth-abundant and efficient catalysts with excellent electrocatalytic performance in both the OER and the ORR is urgently required. Herein, we report a core-shell CoFeS

Between January 24th and March 10th, a total of 2,370 individuals had contact with the first 30 cases of COVID-19. There were 13 individuals who contracted COVID-19 resulting in a secondary attack rate of 0.55% (95% CI 0.31–0.96). There were 119 household contacts, of which 9 individuals developed COVID-19 resulting in a secondary attack rate of 7.56% (95% CI 3.7–14.26).

In the epidemiological investigation of an infectious disease, investigating, classifying, tracking, and managing contacts by identifying the patient’s route are important for preventing further transmission of the disease. However, omissions and errors in previous activities can occur when the investigation is performed through only a proxy interview with the patient. To overcome these limitations, methods that can objectively verify the patient’s claims (medical facility records, Global Positioning System, card transactions, and closed-circuit television) were used for the recent ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 contact investigations in South Korea.