UAE resumes sending patients to South Korea as Mers scare subsides

Government decision to send 42 people in last two weeks a ‘show of support’ for Seoul after Mers outbreak is reined in.

ABU DHABI // The UAE has resumed sending patients to South Korea for treatment after the South Asian country brought an outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome under control.

Following a hiatus of about six weeks, the Government sent 42 patients between July 21 and Monday, the South Korean embassy in Abu Dhabi confirmed.

The UAE stopped sending patients on June 10 after the outbreak in May killed 36 people and left about 200 seriously ill.

“I think both governments are working in collaboration, and the UAE is sending patients for treatment as Korea is now safe enough to receive the patients from UAE as well as other countries,” said Kim Dae-hwan, first secretary at the embassy.

“Mers cases are over and the Korean government has declared that it is safe to travel to the country.”

The Government covers travel and medical expenses of some patients who require special medical care unavailable in the UAE.

The resumption of patients being sent to the country was a show of support for South Korea, Mr Dae-hwan said.

“Steps by the UAE are helping South Korea to show that it is safe by lifting the travel advisory they had,” he said. “The UAE and Korea have always had a strong relationship.”

The UAE is one of many countries that have started to send patients back to South Korea, Mr Dae-hwan said.

“South Korea has been a medical centre for patients from all over the world and many people went there for treatment, and they are now starting to return,” he said. “The number of people going to South Korea has increased and, I am sure, it will increase further gradually.

“The government has followed strict guidelines, worked with the World Health Organisation, and has been successful in controlling Mers,” he said.

South Korea has not reported any cases of Mers for 30 consecutive days.

The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the number of people with the infection was at 186. More than 16,000 people have been released from quarantine since the epidemic started.

South Korea’s ministry of health and welfare said two travellers from the Middle East, including one from the UAE, with suspected symptoms were being tested under quarantine, but initial tests were negative for Mers. Two people in contact with these suspected cases were also being monitored.

The South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, sacked minister of health Moon Hyung-pyo yesterday after criticism over the handling of the outbreak.

Last month, Hwang Kyo-ahn, the prime minister, said: “It is the judgment of medical experts and the government that people can now feel safe.”

Many countries had chosen not to issue travel advisories for South Korea, while the seven countries that had done so have lifted the restrictions.

Globally, since September 2012, WHO has been notified of 1,368 laboratory-confirmed cases of Mers, including at least 490 related deaths.