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Tourists in
South Korea wear masks as a precaution against the MERS virus
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South Korean authorities are to track the mobile phones of
hundreds of people under quarantine to prevent the spread of Middle East
Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
It comes as a fifth death
was confirmed, with the number of infections rising to 64.
The government, criticized
over its lack of transparency in handling the outbreak, bowed to public
pressure and identified 24 health facilities where infections took place or
MERS patients visited.
It reported 14 confirmed
new cases of MERS, adding to the largest number outside of the Middle East.
RTI.ie reports:
First identified in
humans in 2012, MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one
that triggered Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
But MERS has a much
higher death rate at 38%, according to World Health Organization figures.
At a news briefing in the
central city of Sejong, Deputy Prime Minister Choi
Kyung-hwan announced the plan to track the mobile phones of people under
quarantine to ensure they stay at home.
Nearly 2,000 people in
South Korea are under quarantine; some are in health care facilities but
most are at home.
An entire village of
about 105 people in the southwest is under quarantine after a resident who
visited a hospital where the country's first patient with MERS was treated
turned out to be infected.
Late last month, a South
Korean man broke a voluntary house quarantine and flew to Hong Kong and then
travelled to mainland China, where he tested positive for MERS.
South Korea's outbreak of
the often-deadly MERS virus, first reported on 20 May, has prompted fear.
It led to the closure
last week of more than 1,000 schools, with thousands of tourists cancelling
plans to visit the country.
"We can absolutely
control this because all MERS cases in our country are infections in health
facilities, not spreading into communities," Mr Choi said.
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