An elderly Korean man with a confirmed COVID-19 case walked home in order to prevent the spread.

On March 26, 'JTBC' reported that a 75-year-old man in Sokcho walked home for two hours after finding out that he was a COVID-19 patient. As soon as the hospital contacted him, patient 'A' decided that it would be best to walk home instead of taking public transportation or any other method, in order to prevent spreading the virus himself. It was later discovered that he purposely chose automobile roads rather than streets for pedestrians and took a long detour to get home, taking about two hours in total to get home.

The hospital, which had intended to pick up the patient right away, could not locate his whereabouts at first. It turned out that 'A' had been helping out an acquaintance at a farm about 6 km away from his residence right before learning of his condition. When 'A's cell phone battery went out, it had become impossible for the hospital authorities to reach him.

'A' later informed the authorities that he even crossed a mountain path in order to avoid other pedestrians. When the hospital eventually reached his home, the authorities assisted him with packing for his impending quarantine set to take place in a local clinic.