SK president hits out at alarm over MERS
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea reported its 16th death yesterday in an expanding MERS outbreak, as President Park Geun-Hye called for efforts to shore up the economy against what she called “excessive” public alarm.
The nation also declared five new patients — bringing the total number of cases to 150 — as fears grew over its economic impact.
Park urged efforts to minimise the damage to the economy, saying consumer spending had dipped and the number of foreign tourists had plunged.
“I am afraid the unexpected outbreak of MERS will quash the momentum of economic recovery,” she said at a meeting with advisers. “It is important to prevent the spread of excessive public anxiety and allow normal economic activities to resume quickly.”
Sales at department stores in the first week of June fell 25 percent from a month earlier, while the number of moviegoers dropped 55 percent, according to data from the finance ministry.
The outbreak — if sustained for a month — could trim the country’s growth by 0.15 percentage points for this year, Morgan Stanley said last week.
Concern over economic damage prompted the central Bank of Korea to slash its key interest rate by 0.25 basis points last Thursday.
More than 100,000 foreigners have canceled trips to Seoul since the beginning of June and more are expected to follow suit, vice tourism minister said.
“We estimate that our foreign currency earnings will dwindle by US$2.3 billion if the number plunges by 50 percent,” Kim Chong said. “Our tourism industry is faced with a very dire situation.”
He promised financial aid worth 72 billion won (US$64 million) to help tourism-related businesses as more trip cancellations are expected in the peak tourist season of July and August.
About 14.2 million foreigners, or about 1.18 million a month on average, visited the country last year.
A 58-year-old man who was diabetic was the latest victim of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which broke out in South Korea less than a month ago.
The country now has the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia and it is spreading unusually rapidly.
The five new patients — aged from 39 to 84 — were infected in hospitals in cities including Seoul and Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of the capital.
Among them was a nurse who had performed CPR on an infected patient in Daejeon and a man who was infected at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul after accompanying his sick mother there.
The hospital is the epicenter of the outbreak and more than 70 patients, visitors and medical staff there have contracted the virus.
The health ministry said 17 patients remained in an unstable condition.
The outbreak started on May 20 when a 68-year-old man was diagnosed after returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia.
Since then more than 5,200 people have been placed in quarantine.
Meanwhile, North Korea has urged South Korea to ban trips to the Kaesong joint industrial zone in North Korea by southerners who had visited MERS-affected venues.
- 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.
