| Id |
Subject |
Object |
Predicate |
Lexical cue |
| T162 |
0-10 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Discussion |
| T163 |
11-160 |
Sentence |
denotes |
This study analyzed the relationship between traffic trends and the spread of COVID-19 after the first COVID-19 patient was confirmed in South Korea. |
| T164 |
161-219 |
Sentence |
denotes |
This was carried out at both national and regional levels. |
| T165 |
220-733 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Since the first confirmed patient in South Korea on January 19, the mass media (e.g. TV news, newspapers, the Internet) and other studies have shown a decrease in peoples’ engagement in outdoor activities as a result of self-isolation, working from home, voluntarily staying indoors, delaying the commencement of schools and universities, and the delivery of educational messages for COVID-19 prevention (e.g. via the Internet, broadcast media, and written articles) (Chinazzi et al., 2020, Magal and Webb, 2020). |
| T166 |
734-927 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Similarly, our study showed that, following the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea, nationwide traffic decreased by 9.7% compared with 2019, indicating a decrease in citizens’ outdoor activities. |
| T167 |
928-1079 |
Sentence |
denotes |
In particular, after the KCDC raised the infectious disease alert level to ‘orange’ on January 27, a large decrease was observed in nationwide traffic. |
| T168 |
1080-1225 |
Sentence |
denotes |
After the alert level was raised to ‘red’ on February 22, traffic in the fourth week of February was down by 26.1% compared with 2019 (Figure 4). |
| T169 |
1226-1697 |
Sentence |
denotes |
To counteract the rapid increase in confirmed COVID-19 patients, the South Korean government implemented policies such as advising the restriction of outdoor activities, implementing a work-from-home system in public organizations, encouraging private organizations to employ work-from-home systems, advising educational institutions (kindergartens, after-school academies, etc.) to close, and delaying the commencement of elementary/middle/high schools and universities. |
| T170 |
1698-1786 |
Sentence |
denotes |
The effectiveness of these policies was evidenced by the decrease in nationwide traffic. |
| T171 |
1787-1993 |
Sentence |
denotes |
In particular, the data show that although the Korean government did not forcefully prohibit public excursions, citizens voluntarily adhered to the government’s guidelines and restricted outdoor activities. |
| T172 |
1994-2241 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Various studies and media opinions have suggested that these results are due to a high level of existing public health education, good information accessibility due to the rapid Internet environment, and effective delivery of educational messages. |
| T173 |
2242-2377 |
Sentence |
denotes |
It would be valuable for future research to identify the most effective measures among the South Korean government’s COVID-19 policies. |
| T174 |
2378-2549 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Although the nationwide traffic in South Korea showed a continuously decreasing trend after the initial COVID-19 outbreak, it shifted to an increasing trend after March 7. |
| T175 |
2550-2783 |
Sentence |
denotes |
This was the day after the numbers of daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea shifted to a decreasing trend on March 6, when the Korean press and media had begun reporting decreasing trends in COVID-19 (The Briefing, 2020). |
| T176 |
2784-3211 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Moreover, immediately after the WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a foreign media briefing on March 5, reported that ‘the numbers of new confirmed COVID-19 patients in South Korea are decreasing, and there are encouraging signs’, corresponding news articles were published on March 6 in Korean Standard Time – the day before the nationwide traffic shifted to an increasing trend (The Associated Press, 2020). |
| T177 |
3212-3438 |
Sentence |
denotes |
In the cases of Daegu, Cheongdo, and Gyeongsan city, the KCDC recommended that citizens in these areas undergo self-isolation for prevention from 23 February to 8 March, which contributed to the subsequent increase in traffic. |
| T178 |
3439-3758 |
Sentence |
denotes |
The shift to an increasing trend in nationwide traffic from March may have been caused by: (1) a change in COVID-19 prevention attitudes toward decreasing compliance; (2) a decrease in people working from home; (3) increased usage of personal vehicles; and (4) an increase in outdoor excursions due to seasonal changes. |
| T179 |
3759-3785 |
Sentence |
denotes |
These are discussed below. |
| T180 |
3786-4002 |
Sentence |
denotes |
First, as the number of new daily confirmed COVID-19 patients decreased and the number of persons released from isolation increased, it is likely that the attitudes of the public shifted toward decreasing compliance. |
| T181 |
4003-4244 |
Sentence |
denotes |
According to previous research, 2 months following the first COVID-19 case in South Korea, citizens became increasingly fatigued by the preventive measures, and their attitudes to prevention became less stringent (Remuzzi and Remuzzi, 2020). |
| T182 |
4245-4404 |
Sentence |
denotes |
For instance, analysis of public data from Seoul showed that the number of Seoul Metro passengers in March increased by 3.3% compared with March 2 (Won, 2020). |
| T183 |
4405-4590 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Second, employees following work-from-home policies since February started commuting to work again once the spread of COVID-19 had decreased in March, and this led to increased traffic. |
| T184 |
4591-4739 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Indeed, employees working from home reached their highest levels of movement in the first week of March, after which they showed a decreasing trend. |
| T185 |
4740-4956 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Third, citizens who had previously used public transport (the Metro, buses, taxis, etc.) showed increased use of their personal vehicles for outings to avoid public transport, which is susceptible to COVID-19 spread. |
| T186 |
4957-5085 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Fourth, South Korea is a country with four distinct seasons, and has a culture where people frequently go out in the springtime. |
| T187 |
5086-5373 |
Sentence |
denotes |
The culture, sports, and tourism ministries in individual cities, provinces, and counties attempted to prevent outdoor activities by closing or reducing the operating hours of major tourism sites; however, the number of tourists visiting these sights increased as the weather got warmer. |
| T188 |
5374-5548 |
Sentence |
denotes |
When the regional COVID-19 and traffic trends were analyzed in this study, the traffic in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon showed smaller changes compared with the other regions. |
| T189 |
5549-5735 |
Sentence |
denotes |
This is because the Korean citizens, including overseas students, started returning to the country as COVID-19 began rapidly spreading overseas, such as in Europe and the US (Cho, 2020). |
| T190 |
5736-5915 |
Sentence |
denotes |
The number of Korean citizens returning from overseas and requiring control was estimated to be 210 000 individuals, making the risk of a resurgence of COVID-19 considerably high. |
| T191 |
5916-6055 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Indeed, 23.8% of the confirmed cases in Seoul in the third week of March were individuals returning from abroad (Young-kyung et al., 2020). |
| T192 |
6056-6256 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Thus, Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, which are closer to the airport and the residences of many citizens returning from abroad, showed increased COVID-19 and traffic trends compared with other regions. |
| T193 |
6257-6472 |
Sentence |
denotes |
In particular, Incheon showed a positive linear relationship between traffic and new confirmed COVID-19 patients, prompting increasing concern about a secondary COVID-19 outbreak in this region compared with others. |
| T194 |
6473-6505 |
Sentence |
denotes |
This study had some limitations. |
| T195 |
6506-6660 |
Sentence |
denotes |
First, it did not collect data on the total national traffic volume, instead relying on VDS data, although these are representative of the national trend. |
| T196 |
6661-6772 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Moreover, the data collected included drive-through traffic, which would need to be excluded in future studies. |
| T197 |
6773-6901 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Second, this study did not preclude the causal effects of regional influences, such as public policy, the media, education, etc. |
| T198 |
6902-7049 |
Sentence |
denotes |
A future study should include a comparison of experiences in each city with those in other outbreak cities pursuing different policies (Pan, 2020). |
| T199 |
7050-7092 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Globally, COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic. |
| T200 |
7093-7292 |
Sentence |
denotes |
At present, the spread of COVID-19 is concentrated in Europe and the US, with WHO declaring Europe to be the second epicenter of COVID-19 (Johnson et al., 2020, Lin et al., 2020, Qasim et al., 2020). |
| T201 |
7293-7550 |
Sentence |
denotes |
As of March 31, 2020, outside of Asia, the five countries with the highest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases were, in descending order, the US (163 479 cases), Italy (101 739 cases), Spain (87 956 cases), Germany (66 885 cases), and France (44 550 cases). |
| T202 |
7551-7785 |
Sentence |
denotes |
All these countries allow Koreans to freely travel there and, consequently, South Korea is currently experiencing a persistent increase in the cases of infection re-entering the country from overseas regions such as Europe and the US. |
| T203 |
7786-7951 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Preparing various physical and institutional measures, including social distancing, will be necessary to prepare for a secondary outbreak of COVID-19 in South Korea. |
| T204 |
7952-8101 |
Sentence |
denotes |
In particular, increased traffic implies a rise in outdoor excursions, which elevates the risk of spread of COVID-19 due to increased social contact. |
| T205 |
8102-8231 |
Sentence |
denotes |
The government needs to devise policies similar to social distancing to restrict citizens’ excursions and other risks of contact. |
