South Korea shuts down over 200 schools as Mers infections rise in wake of two deaths
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 03 June, 2015, 1:54pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 03 June, 2015, 3:52pm
AFP and Reuters in Seoul
Students wearing face masks stand wait to cross a street in Seoul. Photo: AFP
More than 200 primary schools shut down today as South Korea struggled to contain an outbreak of the Mers virus that has killed two patients in the country.
South Korea confirmed five more cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) today, bringing the number of infections to 30. This is the largest outbreak of Mers outside Saudi Arabia, where the virus has killed more than 400 since 2012.
Of the five new cases, four had been in the same hospital as the first patient, a 68-year-old man who had just returned from a trip to four countries in the Middle East. The other, a 60-year-old man, caught it from another infected person.
With the World Health Organisation predicting further infections, President Park Geun-hye convened an emergency meeting with top health officials and medical experts to map out a comprehensive quarantine strategy.
Park has already scolded health officials for their “insufficient” initial response, during which one infected man managed to travel to China despite warnings from doctors. China last week said the 44-year-old South Korean man tested positive after breaking a voluntary house quarantine and travelled to Hong Kong and on to Guangdong province.
South Korean Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea said 209 primary schools had temporarily shut down, as he urged regional education heads to ensure student safety.
“Infection among students should be prevented at any cost ... we need far stronger measures at schools than anywhere else,” Hwang said.
Most of the schools shut down for a week were in the province of Gyeonggi, where the first death occurred on Monday, the Education Ministry said.
Seoul elementary school workers spray sanitizer on the hands of students to protect against the possible spread of the Mers virus. Photo: AFP
Dozens of public events have been cancelled, while more than 1,360 people who were exposed directly or indirectly to the virus have been placed under varying levels of quarantine.
Urban residents in South Korea have been stocking up on face masks and hand sanitizers.
Mers, which has no known cure or vaccine, is considered a deadlier but less infectious cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), which killed hundreds of people when it appeared in Asia in 2003.
“Given the number of clinics and hospitals that cared for the index case, further cases can be expected,” the WHO said in a statement from Geneva yesterday. The health body said it was closely monitoring the outbreak of what it described as an “emerging disease that remains poorly understood”.
The two deaths reported in South Korea were a 58-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man.
The first, or “index” case – a 68-year-old man diagnosed after returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia – was reported on May 20.
Media said health authorities were conducting tests on a female elderly patient who died on Sunday after sharing the same hospital ward with one of the two Mers-infected people who passed away. Officials said it was likely she died of existing illness.
The WHO has not recommended trade or travel restrictions for South Korea, although South Korean border control authorities have imposed a ban on overseas travel for people isolated for possible infection, a health ministry official said.
Pressure is growing for the government to identify the hospitals treating infected patients in South Korea, though public health authorities have insisted it was “helpful” to keep the names confidential.
Mers has now infected 1,161 people globally, with 436 deaths. More than 20 countries have been affected, with most cases in Saudi Arabia.
Mers was first identified in humans in 2012 and is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered Sars. Mers has a much higher death rate at 38 per cent, according to WHO figures.
Some experts have said the 38 per cent death rate might be overstated as patients with little or no symptoms might go undetected.
Symptoms of Mers can include cough, fever and shortness of breath. It can lead to respiratory failure, the WHO said.
