Ray of hope in MERS outbreak as SKorea reports just 1 new case
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea said yesterday that the MERS outbreak that has killed 24 people appears to have begun subsiding, as it reported just one new case — the lowest rate of new infections in two weeks.
This brought to 166 the total number of confirmed cases of the disease in the country since the first was confirmed on May 20, the health ministry said.
The number of people in quarantine had fallen 12 percent from Thursday to 5,930.
The government of President Park Geun-hye has come under attack for its inadequate initial response but World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan expressed guarded optimism on Thursday over South Korea’s ability to contain the outbreak.
She said Seoul was now “on a very good footing” after an initially slow response.
A rural village, which had been sealed off for quarantine, was opened up yesterday, allowing its population of 102 people to resume normal activities.
“Apparently, the outbreak has started subsiding,” a health ministry official in Seoul said.
“But we have to wait and see whether more cases occur” in hospitals exposed to the virus, he added.
The latest case involved a 62-year-old man who contracted the virus while caring for an infected family member at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, the largest epicenter of the outbreak linked to about half of all confirmed cases.
The hospital suspended services to non-MERS sufferers last Sunday, with other patients being moved to different medical facilities, and would remain closed for other treatment at least until Wednesday next week.
Currently, 112 patients are in hospital, while 30 recovered people have been released.
Jangdeok Village in Sunchang County south of Seoul was back to normal after road blocks were lifted yesterday, two weeks after a 72-year-old resident there was diagnosed with the virus.
“This is good. I felt like I had been a prisoner for a long time,” Park Yoo-hyun, a 72-year-old farmer, told reporters.
A second village under quarantine is expected to follow suit on Monday, barring any new cases there.
On Tuesday, a senior health official expressed cautious optimism that the worst of the outbreak was over, only for eight new cases to emerge the following day when the WHO warned that South Korea was facing a “wake-up call” and urged more vigilance. But Chan said on Thursday that the outbreak would be brought under control “although it may take a little longer than everyone would like to see.”
The good news was that scientists had not detected any genetic change in the virus, she added.
However, the government’s laggardly initial response to the disease has fueled public discontent that began in April last year when the Sewol ferry disaster claimed more than 300 lives, mostly high-school students.
Park’s approval ratings have fallen further over the past week to 29 percent, the lowest since she took office in 2013.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
