Daegu, South Korea is home to the main outbreak and epicenter of COVID-19 in the country. The city has a total population of 2.4 million, making it the third largest in the country. “Patient 31” attended the services of Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, South Korea while infected and kept returning to the church after showing symptoms of the virus. It is because of "Patient 31" that the Korean Center for Disease Control (KCDC) considers the Shincheonji Church as the initial outbreak location for the virus within the country. The church overall has 240,000 members and 1,100 churches all over South Korea. The majority of the initial COVID-19 patients were either members of church, or those who came into contact with them. Due to the secrecy of the church and its members, Korean officials had issues tracking down members for testing. Church members were told to deny being members when the outbreak was reported in congregation, further adding to the diffusion of the disease and extending the potential patient pool. As of March 9, 2020, an estimated 63.5% of confirmed cases were related to Daegu's Shincheonji Church.

Despite the city labeled as the epicenter of the South Korean outbreak, businesses are still open. And just before the height of the epidemic, the city borrowed medical staff and hospital rooms in surrounding areas and towns in preparation. The city also closed down all public libraries, museums, schools, churches, day-care centers, and courts. On April 19, Daegu health officials reported no new cases for the first time in more than 2 months.

After the “super-spreader” incident in Daegu, the government increased the severity of their tactics to keep the disease contained. They increased their use of surveillance technology to track members of the Shincheonji church. The technology included using cellphones, CCTV cameras, and credit card statements to track and catalog who the possible infected had come into contact with. Those who came in contact with them were told to self-isolate and to check their temperature daily. Because the government knew where the major outbreak occurred it made contract tracing so much easier. In Daegu, officials started to monitor the main train station. They watched and tracked the body temperatures of every passenger through cameras that were installed in the station.

This tactic has had great success and the government has decided to expand on it. According to Reuters, the government is implementing a “smart city” database. This database is not a new idea to the South Korean government, but its purpose is new. It was originally supposed to be for sharing knowledge between cities about traffic and pollution, but instead will now be used to isolate COVID-19 cases. The database will be operated by the KCDC. This gives health officials and investigators access to real-time data feeds on patients. It also compiles information from the National Police Agency, the Credit Finance Association of Korea, three telecommunications companies, and 22 credit card companies. The live-feeds will not only track a patient’s whereabouts but also their credit card transactions and how long they spend at each place they visit. This allows for easier contact tracing. Understandably, this has raised some privacy concerns. So, access to the database will be limited and must have police approval before being used by anyone.