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South Korea: Government Declares End to MERS Outbreak South Korea: Government Declares End to MERS Outbreak
(35 minutes later)
South Korea on Tuesday declared a de facto end to an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome that has infected 186 people, killing 36, as well as scaring away foreign tourists and temporarily shutting down thousands of schools. South Korea’s outbreak was the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia, where the virus, known as MERS, first emerged in 2012. Since the first South Korean patient tested positive on May 20, the quick spread of the disease has exposed loopholes in the country’s infection-control abilities: overcrowded emergency rooms, frequent visits to hospitalized patients by relatives and friends, and the government’s failure to share information with doctors and the public. “It is the view of the medical community and the government that it is O.K. for the people to feel safe,” Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said on Tuesday. The country has reported no new cases in the past two weeks, the maximum incubation period for the virus. South Korea on Tuesday declared a de facto end to an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome that has infected 186 people, killing 36 as well as scaring away foreign tourists and temporarily shutting down thousands of schools. South Korea’s outbreak was the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia, where the virus, known as MERS, first emerged in 2012. Since the first South Korean patient tested positive on May 20, the quick spread of the disease has exposed loopholes in the country’s infection-control abilities: overcrowded emergency rooms, frequent visits to hospitalized patients by relatives and friends, and the government’s failure to share information with doctors and the public. “It is the view of the medical community and the government that it is O.K. for the people to feel safe,” Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Tuesday. The country has reported no new cases in the past two weeks, the maximum incubation period for the virus.