Trends in Viral Respiratory Infections During COVID-19 Pandemic, South Korea

T he government of South Korea has implemented various measures to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic since January 20, 2020, when a case was offi cially reported in South Korea (1). Such interventions can affect the incidence of not only COVID-19 but also other respiratory viruses that are preventable with hygiene practices and social distancing (2-5). For example, in South Korea the 2019-20 infl uenza season ended 12 weeks earlier than in 2018-19, possibly because of the adoption of personal hygiene measures and restrictions on international travel (3-5). However, many viruses can cause acute respiratory infections; it is unknown whether other viruses also might have altered incidence or test positivity rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined how the weekly positivity rates for 8 major respiratory viruses differed during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea compared with rates for 2010-2019.