Seoul confirmed one death and 23 more cases on Monday morning, bringing the total number of infected patients to 87. With the newly confirmed cases, which includes the country’s first teenage diagnosed patient, South Korea surpassed the United Arab Emirates as the country with the second-most MERS cases in the world.
Among the 23, 17 patients, including the teenager, were all infected at the emergency room of the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, where they stayed with the 14th confirmed patient from May 27-29. The rest six are related to the 16th patient who stayed at two medical facilities in Daejeon – Dae Cheong Hospital and Konyang University Hostpial – from May 22–30.
The sixth MERS death was also confirmed on Monday morning. The deceased was diagnosed with the virus on Sunday, becoming the 84th confirmed patient in the country, and died at Dae Cheong Hospital in Daejeon on Monday morning. The 80-year-old had been staying as an inpatient at the same hospital since March for pneumonia. He is believed to have been infected from the 16th patient from May 25 to 28.
The deceased started showing symptoms of MERS on Saturday, just a day before his diagnosis and two days before his death. He had been scheduled to be quarantined at a government-certified facility on Monday afternoon, but died at 8 a.m. on the same day as his condition abruptly deteriorated, the Health Ministry said.
The Health Ministry also confirmed that the 76th confirmed patient visited two medical facilities in Seoul prior to being diagnosed with MERS on June 7. The 76-year-old, who was exposed to the virus at the emergency room of the Samsung Medical Center from May 27 to 28, visited Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong’s emergency room from June 5 to 6, and Konkuk University Medical Center’s emergency room on June 6.
The government is urging those who visited the two Seoul-based facilities from June 5 to 6 to report themselves to the authorities. They can do it by calling 129 (The Health Ministry) or calling three municipal governments that are closest to their homes. Seoul government can be reached at 120, Daejeon at 042-120, and the Gyeonggi Provincial government at 031-120.
To date, the virus has killed 6 people, infected 87 and pushed health officials to quarantine more than 2,351 others.
