South Korea Mers threat ‘over’

Seoul says it is now virtually free of the deadly Mers coronavirus that killed 36 people and left nearly 200 seriously ill

Workers fumigate a theatre in Seoul on June 16. South Korean authorities say the Mers outbreak is over. Jung Yeon-je / AFP Photo

SEOUL // South Korea said Tuesday it is now virtually free of the deadly Mers coronavirus that killed 36 people and left nearly 200 seriously ill since an outbreak was declared in May.

Hwang Kyo-ahn, the prime minister, urged people to return to normal as the country has not seen a new Mers case in more than three weeks.

More than 16,000 people had been isolated at hospitals and homes as the government attempted to stymie the virus, and the last person was lifted from quarantine on Monday.

“It is the judgment of medical experts and the government that people can now feel safe,” Mr Hwang said in a government meeting, according to the prime minister’s office.

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome was discovered in 2012 and the cases had been mostly centred in Saudi Arabia before the outbreak in South Korea. The Mers virus belongs to the family of coronaviruses that includes the common cold and Sars, and can cause fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.

Experts say South Korea’s overcrowded emergency rooms and hospital wards might have contributed to a wider-than-expected transmission of the virus, which usually spreads poorly between people.

South Korea’s habits of visiting multiple facilities to treat the same infection and having many friends and family members visit hospitalised patients also might have contributed.

The public alarm over Mers rattled South Korea’s economy, which posted its slowest quarterly growth in more than two years in the three months through June. The Bank of Korea partially blamed the slowed growth on sapped consumption as foreign tourists cancelled visits and people stayed home in fear of infection.

* Associated Press