The number of people quarantined for possible infection of Middle East respiratory syndrome in South Korea jumped by nearly 1,000 overnight to 6,508 Wednesday morning, with the country reporting eight more confirmed cases Wednesday.
An additional MERS-related death reported brought the death toll to 20, while the total number of infections reached 162, according to the MERS response team at the Health Ministry.
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| (Yonhap) |
The number of patients receiving treatment for MERS reached a new high since the outbreak at 124, 18 of whom are were in unstable condition. Two more were discharged from the hospital, the ministry said, bringing the fully recovered former MERS patients to 19.
Of the newly affected, two were members of medical staff at hospitals in southern Seoul — one at Kyung Hee University Hospital and the other from Samsung Medical Center, the source of 80 confirmed cases.
South Korea has the second-highest number of MERS cases behind Saudi Arabia, where the disease was first reported in 2012.
The World Health Organization convened an emergency meeting Tuesday to review the MERS situation in Korea, and to assess if a special countermeasure is required for the disease, such as revising the criteria for possible infection.
Based on findings from the Saudi Arabian situation, the MERS response team in Korea initially said infection could only occur when a person has been in a confined area within 2 meters of a MERS patient. But several cases have demonstrated that the infection can occur when a MERS patient is not in the vicinity.
In a press conference held Tuesday in Geneva, the WHO reiterated that the MERS outbreak in Korea had not yet spread to the general public and was being limited to within hospitals.
WHO director general Margaret Chan will also visit Korea on Thursday and offer the organization’s evaluation on the MERS outbreak.
By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)
