medRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.21.20158923; this version posted October 5, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. Title: Spatial variability in reproduction number and doubling time across two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, February to July 2020 Authors and Affiliations: Eunha Shim1, Amna Tariq2, Gerardo Chowell2 1. Department of Mathematics, Soongsil University, 369 Sangdoro, Dongjak-Gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea 06978. E-mail address:
[email protected] 2. Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atl anta, GA, USA. E-mail address:
[email protected];
[email protected] Corresponding author: Eunha Shim. Email address:
[email protected] 1 NOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice. medRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.21.20158923; this version posted October 5, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. Highlights: • South Korea has experienced two spatially heterogenous waves of COVID-19. • Seoul and Gyeonggi Province experienced two waves of COVID-19 in March and June. • In the densely populated Seoul and nearby areas, reproduction numbers exceeded 3.0.