South Korea confirms first 2 MERS deaths

A Chinese tourist wears a mask as she visits Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, Monday. Pic: AP.

By Asian Correspondent Staff Jun 02, 2015

South Korea’s Health Ministry has confirmed that two people have died there from the deadly MERS virus. The number of infections has risen to 25 and almost 700 people have been placed in isolation.

The victims were a 58-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man. The woman had contact with the original case, a man who returned from the Middle East with the illness last month.

The first fatality from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) was recorded in Saudi Arabia in June 2012. Hundreds of people have died of the disease there since, with more cases in neighbouring countries.

South Korean Health Ministry officials said Monday that 682 people who had close contact with MERS patients, such as their family members and their medical staff, were isolated at their homes or state-run facilities.

A thermal camera monitor shows the body temperature of passengers arriving from overseas against possible MERS infection at Incheon International Airport, South Korea. Pic: AP.

The virus in South Korea has been largely limited to medical staff who treated the first patient and who stayed at the same hospital with him, as well as his family members.

However, there is increasing alarm over the spread of the illness in South Korea, despite the assurances from authorities that it has been contained.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong quarantined 18 people at the weekend who traveled to the city with a South Korean man infected with the MERS virus last week.

The 44-year-old South Korean man flew from Seoul to Hong Kong last Tuesday and has since been placed in quarantine in a hospital in southern China.

The 18 people who traveled from Seoul to Hong Kong with him have been quarantined in the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village resort in a remote part of Hong Kong for two weeks, according to authorities.

MERS belongs to the family of coronaviruses that includes the common cold and SARS, and can cause fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure. There is no cure or vaccine for the illness to date.

The virus has a death rate of 27%, according to the World Health Organization.

Additional reporting from Associated Press