Trend of Gastrointestinal Infections Following Nonpharmaceutical Interventions, South Korea, 2020

To the Editor—The recent article by Kraay et al [1] described the impact of nonpharmaceutical intervention (NPI) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on norovirus outbreaks in 9 US states. Various NPIs have been implemented globally during 2020 to curtail the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic [2]. Multiple observational studies have found that NPIs have shown a beneficial effect in reducing SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory virus infections [3]. However, descriptions of the impact of NPI on gastrointestinal infections are limited [4–6]. We wish to report our experience in South Korea showing a correlation between the introduction of NPI and reduction in the infection rates of gastrointestinal pathogens. Aggregated deidentifiable data from publicly available source were used and the study was exempted from institutional review board review. In South Korea, strict NPIs, including social distancing, personal hygiene such as hand...