JUNE 18 (Reuters) — South Korea’s health ministry reported on Thursday (June 18) three more deaths and three new cases in the country’s Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, bringing the total fatality to 23.
“The total number of confirmed MERS cases has risen to 165. A total of 118 MERS patients are undergoing treatment. Up until now, a total of 24 people have been discharged from hospital, and a total of 23 people have died,” a South Korean Disease Control and Prevention Center official, Jeong Eun-kyeong, said at a news briefing.
The outbreak has been traced to a 68-year-old South Korean man who returned from a business trip to the Middle East in early May, and the World Health Organization (WHO) said it expected new cases in coming weeks, although the numbers appear to be declining.
The WHO said the outbreak was a “wake-up call” but does not constitute a global emergency, as South Korean authorities have stepped up control measures to contain the spread, calling the effort “very impressive.”
South Korean authorities said they don’t have any plans to raise the alert level for MERS.
“We are not considering (raising the alert level for MERS) at all. This is because the World Health Organisation (WHO) clearly explains how the MERS virus has spread in South Korea, and we follow the WHO’s opinion. All MERS infections have taken place in healthcare facilities. There is no evidence of MERS transmission in local communities,” said Kwon Deok-cheol, South Korean assistant minister of Health Care Policy.
More than 6,700 people are in quarantine, either at home or in health facilities.
All of the infections known to have occurred in South Korea have taken place in healthcare facilities. Three hospitals have been at least partially shut and two have been locked down with patients and medical staff inside.
MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered China’s deadly 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
The vast majority of MERS infections and deaths have been in Saudi Arabia, where more than 1,000 people have been infected since 2012, and about 454 have died.