Number of confirmed MERS cases rises to 154, with 19 deaths: Health ministry

  • 9 years ago
We start with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, outbreak in Korea,... which we've been covering for more than two weeks now... as the number of deaths and confirmed patients continues to rise.
For the details, let's go straight to Kim Ji-yeon, who joins us at the news center.
Ji-yeon, what's the latest?

Unfortunately, Mark, three more people died earlier today,... bringing the MERS death toll in Korea to 19.
Four more people have tested positive for the disease, bringing the total to 154.
One of the four lives in the southeastern city of Daegu, the first case reported there.
Another is a 39-year-old nurse in the city of Daejeon, the first medical worker to be infected there.
She's believed to have contracted the virus after readjusting her face mask while administering C-P-R.

Currently, 5-thousand-586 people have been placed under quarantine or are isolated in their homes,... while more than 35-hundred have been released.
Japan-based Kyodo News Agency reports, citing the health ministry,... around 20 to 30 foreigners, including two Japanese nationals, have been isolated in their homes in Korea...
but the two from Japan returned home on Monday.
The two reportedly left Korea before getting notice from Korean health authorities to stay in the country.
A Japanese government official says the two Japanese nationals have been cleared of infection,... adding that Korea's standards for determining who should be placed in quarantine are much lower than Japan's.

It's a wonder how those two managed to leave the country when they were supposed to be in quarantine. They could have spread the virus to other countries. As seen in this case, foreigners are being affected. How is Korea dealing with this?

The government says it'll provide translation services for foreigners believed to have contracted the virus,... starting with the Chinese language, on Thursday.
Also, foreigners who live in Korea who have tested positive for the virus are now eligible to receive th

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