"Now, we aim to view the COVID-19 outbreak in the Seoul metropolitan area from a different perspective—through network science."

The biggest issue that struck our lives in 2020 was COVID-19.

COVID-19 is known to spread through respiratory transmission via human contact. Therefore, if we can identify contact routes and spread patterns, we can determine the key sources of transmission and predict future trends. 

1. JoongAng Ilbo: Half of the Cases Came from 'Medium-Risk' Churches… A Flaw in K-Quarantine

Group infection → nth infection → group infection vicious cycle

The decisive cause of the spread of COVID-19 in the metropolitan area was ‘group infection’. 

Of the 7,430 people analyzed, 4,480 (60.3%) were confirmed cases related to group infection. 1,859 (25%) had ‘unknown infection sources (cryptic infections)’ and 1,088 (14.6%) had ‘overseas inflows’. There were 3 unidentified cases.

The group infection spread to the community through secondary, tertiary, and other ‘nth-order infections’, causing new group infections. 

The Itaewon club incident in early May is a representative example. An academy instructor in Incheon who was infected at the Itaewon club returned to the community and transmitted it to a student at the academy, 

and it is presumed that it then spread to a coin karaoke room → taxi driver → first birthday party → Bucheon Coupang logistics center. 

The first confirmed case in the Itaewon club was 165, and 59 nth-order infections occurred through them.

2. JTBC: Lee Kyu-yeon's Spotlight

Additionally, Lee Kyu-yeon's Spotlight covered the topic of 'COVID-19 Mutations,' discussing the mutations of the coronavirus and its transmission routes. 

What was particularly interesting was the use of network analysis techniques to analyze the infection pathways. :)

We were able to examine how the transmission networks of previous SARS and MERS outbreaks differ from the COVID-19 transmission network, as well as the impact of super-spreaders. 

O Comparison of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19 Transmission Networks

* Article Source: JoongAng Ilbo - https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/23893335 (2020/10/13)

* Image Source: JTBC Lee Kyu-yeon's Spotlight - 'The Advance of COVID-19 Mutations! The Other Side of Fear' (2020/10/15)