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Kim Bok-soon, a 77-year-oldsurvived MERS and described
coughing and feeling cold when she had the illness. She was cleared to leave a
hospital in Seoul, South Korea.
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- After a patient with MERS dies in South Korea, the outbreak's death toll is now at 16
- Samsung Medical Center in Seoul suspends all but emergency surgery "to fully focus on responding to MERS"
- South Korean health officials say the outbreak is slowing, but additional cases expected
Five new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome have been confirmed
in South Korea and another person has died from the virus, the country's
Ministry of Health said Monday.
That brings 16 deaths attributed to
the virus and 150 total cases.
The outbreak has sparked
international concern, stalled the nation's economy and resulted in over
100,000 canceled tourist visits to the country.
The nearly month-long situation has
put Korean authorities under scrutiny for their inability to contain MERS cases
and President Park Geun-hye has seen her approval ratings plummet.
CNN report continues:
But in one sign as a possible return
to normalcy, hundreds of schools across South Korea re-opened to students on
Monday -- 440 schools remain shut due to MERS concerns. The World Health
Organization had recommended re-opening schools last week.
Team sent to Busan
In a news conference Monday, the
Ministry of Health announced that a special task force had been sent to South
Korea's second largest city, Busan, after learning that one of the most
recently diagnosed MERS patient had visited several hospitals and clinics in
the area.
"We are doing our best to stop
the spread of MERS," said the Korean minister of health. "We are
analyzing the CCTV with the help of Busan police," referring to tracking
down who had been at the hospitals.
On Sunday, a 61-year-old man died in
a Busan hospital with MERS.
Saudi Arabia connection
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has recorded
five cases of MERS in the past week, the official state-run Saudi press agency
said Sunday, citing a weekly Ministry of Health statement. It included one
death of a 73-year-old man who died in the city of Turaba and had a
pre-existing condition.
The strain of coronavirus that
causes MERS was first identified in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, according to the WHO.
The man believed to be "patient
zero" in the current outbreak in South Korea visited Saudi Arabia in May,
along with three other Middle Eastern countries. That 68-year-old patient went
from facility-to-facility near or around Seoul before getting properly
diagnosed. It triggered the hospital-based transmission of MERS in South Korea.
The South Korean outbreak is the
largest outside of Saudi Arabia -- over 5,000 people remain in quarantine.
Gangnam hospital focal point in MERS
outbreak
In Seoul, Samsung Medical Centre --
one of the city's hospitals that has counted many of the nation's MERS cases
among its patients and visitors -- announced Sunday that it will suspend all
surgical procedures except for emergency surgery "to fully focus on
responding to MERS."
More than 50 confirmed MERS cases
have been traced back to the medical center, according to the center's website.
The medical center, located in
Seoul's glitzy Gangnam district and considered one of the most prominent
hospitals in the capital, issued an apology for its handling of MERS.
"We sincerely apologize with
our heads bent to the people for causing great concern as Samsung Medical Center
became the center (of) the spread of MERS," hospital President Song
Jae-hoon said.
Source: CNN
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