South Korea has reported four more deaths and a dozen new cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), but health officials hope the rate of new cases is slowing.
In what has become the largest outbreak of the virus outside Saudi Arabia, a 67-year-old woman who contracted the MERS virus from an existing patient became the 14th person to die in the outbreak, the health ministry announced.
All fatalities have been among elderly patients or those who had been suffering serious existing ailments.
The latest fatalities bring the country’s total to 14 dead, Yonhap news agency said.
The 12 new cases, including an ambulance driver who transported a previous patient, follow only four cases reported on Friday.
The lower number had raised hopes the outbreak might be slowing, although officials and experts predicted there would be more new cases.
Health officials say the latest cases bring to 138 the total number of people in South Korea diagnosed with the virus.
Currently, 3,680 people are under quarantine, down from 3,805. A total of 1,249 people have been released from quarantine, including 294 on Friday.
“The number of newly confirmed cases has fallen sharply and there are little risks of the virus spreading through airborne transmissions or to communities outside hospital settings”, the ministry said in a statement.
“Therefore, we ask the people to conquer their fear and engage in day-to-day business”, it said.
Virus weakens consumer outlook
On Thursday, the outbreak forced the central Bank of Korea to cut its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points as the spread of the virus dampened already weak consumer sentiment.
Businesses including shopping malls, restaurants and cinemas have reported a sharp drop in sales as people shun public venues with large crowds.
More than 54,000 foreign travellers have cancelled planned trips to South Korea so far this month, according to the Korea Tourism Board.
Following criticism the government bungled the initial response, a Seoul hospital was closed temporarily over fears the facility might be another source of mass infection, the first such closure in the capital.
Mediheal Hospital will remain shut until June 23, a Seoul City spokesman said.
A total of 52 healthcare facilities including 18 in Seoul and 16 in the surrounding Gyeonggi Province have been exposed to the virus.
Pyeongtaek St. Mary’s hospital in Pyeongtaek City, where the first wave of 37 patients were diagnosed, will also remain closed until Friday, based on the incubation period for the disease.
But Samsung Medical Centre, where 58 out of the 126 confirmed infected people contracted the disease — the biggest single group — remains open after being sanitised.
The first infected patient was diagnosed on May 20 after a trip to Saudi Arabia.
The 68-year-old man visited four medical facilities, infecting other patients and medics, before he was finally diagnosed.
AFP