COVID-19 Public Health Measures During National Assembly Elections of the Republic of Korea

• Main Authors: Eun Young Kim, Eun Kyoung Kim, Minwon Lee, Hye Kyung Park
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention 2020-08-01
• Series: Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives
• Subjects: covid-19; isolation; voting
• Online Access: http://ophrp.org/upload/pdf/ophrp-11-158.pdf

The general elections for the 21st National Assembly in the Republic of Korea were scheduled for April 15th, 2020, which was during the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. To ensure a safe election, the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) recommended several public health measures. The KCDC developed key interventions after reviewing the general election strategy that targeted COVID-19 patients and individuals isolating at home. Four voters who participated in the election tested positive, but did not contract COVID-19 during voting. The results demonstrated that the KCDC minimized the spread of infection in the community during the election. The measures implemented by KCDC during the election held under a COVID-19 outbreak cannot be generalized to elections as a whole because cultural and national consciousness vary between countries. Nevertheless, it demonstrates that the systemic strategies and applications against the pandemic can minimize the possibility of viral spread.