South Korea reports sixth Mers death as new infection cases surge

SEOUL // South Korea recorded its sixth death and biggest single-day jump in Mers infections on Monday, with 23 new cases reported.

From just four cases two weeks ago, the total number of infections now stands at 87, including six people who have died.

It is the largest outbreak of the potentially deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus outside Saudi Arabia.

The latest fatality was an 80-year-old man who died on Monday morning in a hospital in Daejeon, 140 kilometres south of Seoul, the health ministry said.

The outbreak has triggered widespread public concern in South Korea, with 2,500 people placed under quarantine orders and nearly 2,000 schools closed down.

However, experts say the likelihood of a serious epidemic is remote, given that the Mers virus is not easily transmitted person-to-person.

“The chance of a massive outbreak in South Korea is not high,” said Ho Pak-leung, a microbiology expert at the University of Hong Kong.

“Rather I think there will be continued transmissions at a low level,” Mr Ho said.

Among the new cases announced on Monday, most were infected at the Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul — one of the country’s largest hospitals where nearly 900 patients and staff have been placed under observation.

A 16-year-old student became the first teenage case, but the education ministry stressed he had contracted the virus while already in hospital, so it was “not possible” that he had infected any classmates at school. All the infections so far have been restricted to hospitals.

Criticised for its initial response to the outbreak, the government on Sunday vowed all-out efforts to curb the further spread of the virus.

Several people who were quarantined have been caught sneaking out, despite facing possible fines of three million won (Dh9,800).

Hundreds of public events, school trips and sporting fixtures have been cancelled, with movie theatres, theme parks and shopping malls reporting big drops in the number of customers.

Both E-Mart and Lotte Mart, two of the country’s biggest supermarket chains, reported a 12 per cent drop in weekly store sales, coupled with a 50 per cent surge in online sales.

Those who did venture to the stores were greeted by staff who wiped down the handles of the supermarket trolleys before and after use.

Schools that remained open screened students arriving for class on Monday morning, checking their temperature with an ear thermometer at the gate and sending home anyone with even a mild fever.

Lee Hyun-shil, who was taking her son to a kindergarten in Seoul, said she was in “utter shock” over the scale of the outbreak.

“I am really worried these days ... and wonder if it’s OK to use a subway to go somewhere,” Ms Lee said.

Mr Ho from Hong Kong University said authorities had erred in initially refusing to name the hospitals where Mers patients had been treated.

“If you are not transparent in terms of what happened, people will start to lose trust, and there will be unnecessary fear and rumours.

More than 20 countries have been affected by Mers, with most cases in Saudi Arabia.

The virus 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.

A team of officials from the World Health Organisation arrived in Seoul on Monday to help investigate the outbreak and offer advice on its containment.

* Agence France-Presse