“Don’t be Patient 31”: How one person can infect more than 1,000 people with coronavirus

New Delhi: We can learn a big lesson from the case of Patient 31 in South Korea, who is believed to be responsible for up to 60 percent of infections in the country. Patient 31 was the first of an explosive wave of cases that made South Korea’s outbreak the largest outside of China.

The first case in South Korea was discovered on Jan. 20 – a woman who had flown into Seoul, a metropolitan area of some 25 million people. Officials already were instituting stringent containment protocols by this time, and the woman was immediately put into isolation. After four weeks confirmed cases in South Korea stood at only 30 which was comparatively fewer than the other countries.

But the outbreak in South Korea was about to explode. This person, also a woman, was involved a minor car accident in Daegu and went to a hospital. She was not tested for coronavirus. The woman had visited a hotel and attended two worship services with at least 1,000 other members, staying for two hours each time.

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Her infection was confirmed as Covid-19 after a test and diagnosis at a public health clinic. Authority believe she might have come into contact with a coronavirus patient who was not aware they had the disease.

In the days that followed, hundreds of the church’s parishioners would be diagnosed with Covid-19. Another dramatic spike in cases came from a county just outside Daegu, and health officials believe it’s connected to a funeral service attended by members of the Shincheonji Church.

It is reported that Patient 31 is responsible for around 80 percent of the cases in the entire country. South Korea has had just over 8,000 coronavirus cases and 75 deaths, as of Monday morning.

The case of Patient 31 sheds more light on how coronavirus can be spread knowingly and unknowingly by people who ignore measures meant to protect them and others around them.