- Title: HEALTH-MERS/SOUTH KOREA South Korea names hospital with MERS cases
- Date: 5th June 2015
- Summary: SEJONG, SOUTH KOREA (JUNE 5, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SOUTH KOREAN MINISTER OF HEALTH AND WELFARE MOON HYUNG-PYO WALKING INTO NEWS BRIEFING ROOM JOURNALISTS AT NEWS BRIEFING MOON STANDING AT PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN MINISTER OF HEALTH AND WELFARE, MOON HYUNG-PYO, SAYING: "Hospital 'E' has recorded a particularly large number
- Embargoed: 20th June 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA6BHMPUX7RVWNNV7WTADKYHEK
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare on Friday (June 5) named one hospital which recorded the largest number of confirmed cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), bowing to public pressure to identify the hospitals amid growing public alarm and criticism against the government's response.
"Hospital 'E' has recorded a particularly large number of people infected, who had been in the area as compared to other hospitals. Therefore, we have decided to release the name of the hospital in order to discover all the people who have been in the hospital," South Korean Minister of Health and Welfare Moon Hyung-pyo said.
Moon also urged people who had visited the hospital to let the authorities know.
"People who visited Pyeongtaek St. Mary's hospital between May 15 to 25 for any reason, please call Gyeonggi Province call centre or the Ministry of Health and Welfare hotline. You can also report using the Ministry of Health and Welfare website," Moon said.
South Korea confirmed the death of one more victim of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on Friday, the fourth fatality in an outbreak of the often-deadly virus in the country.
The ministry said five more people were confirmed to be carrying the disease, bringing the total of South Koreans with MERS to 41 - the highest number outside the Middle East.
About 1,600 people have been quarantined in South Korea, most at home but some in medical institutions. The new cases bring the total globally to about 1,185, based on WHO data, with at least 443 related deaths.
Whilst there has been no sustained human-to-human transmission, the worst-case scenario would be for the virus to change and spread rapidly, as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) did in 2002-2003, killing about 800 people around the world.
MERS was first identified in humans in 2012 and is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered SARS. However, MERS has a much higher death rate at 38 percent, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None