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South Korea reported its fifth death from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on Sunday as the government vowed "all-out" efforts to contain the outbreak that has sparked a public health scare and brought the nation to a near halt.
The number of infections rose to 64 as of Sunday after 14 fresh cases, including a 75-year-old man who was posthumously found to have tested positive for the virus, were confirmed on Saturday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.
"All of the additional cases were infected at hospitals," a government official said. "More cases are likely to be found at Samsung Medical Center, but the rate of fresh infections may be at a standstill or decline after this weekend."
Out of 64 South Korean MERS patients, 17 have been infected with the virus at Samsung Medical Center, the highest rate of contraction at any hospital in Seoul.
The hospital, affiliated with South Korea's top family-controlled conglomerate Samsung Group, said it has placed under isolation about 900 patients and medical staff who may have come in contact with an infected patient at its emergency room in late May.
Concerns about the disease have been growing here since South Korea first reported the disease on May 20 as a 68-year-old man, the South Korean "index patient," contracted the virus after returning from a trip to the Middle East.
More than 2,300 people with suspected symptoms have been isolated or ordered to remain in self-quarantine in South Korea.
MERS is a viral respiratory illness that had a very high fatality rate of over 40 percent globally before the outbreak in South Korea, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In South Korea, the death rate from the virus has reached 7.8 percent.
Most people infected with MERS develop severe acute respiratory illness, including a fever, a cough and shortness of breath. There currently is no vaccine or treatment for the disease.
The government has come under fire for its bungled initial response to the disease. President Park Geun-hye called a meeting of relevant government officials to cope with the issue as late as 14 days after the first case was reported.
Acting Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan, who is also the finance minister, unveiled measures Sunday to prevent the further spread of MERS in order to quell public fears.
The government identified all 24 hospitals affected by MERS to ensure the public's safety with transparent information.
It also announced a plan to beef up monitoring those placed in self-quarantine by tracking their locations via mobile phones, vowing to make all-out efforts to contain the virus by mid-June.
The health ministry said Sunday that it and other four provincial governments agreed to set up a working-level channel to jointly cope with the disease.
They also plan to allow 17 health-related institutes to have authority to identify whether suspected patients are infected with the virus through gene tests, it added.
The move comes as Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon blamed the central government on Thursday for its failed attempt to curb the virus.
Controversy erupted as the Seoul government said last week that a doctor from Samsung Medical Center came in contact with more than a thousand citizens at large-scale events while infected with MERS.
The doctor claimed that he did not suffer from symptoms of the virus when he joined the events.
Meanwhile, a Navy petty officer, who was isolated at a military hospital for suspected infection, was found to have tested negative for the virus on Sunday, according to the defense ministry. An Air Force chief master sergeant was confirmed to have contracted the virus and some 100 military service members are being placed under quarantine, it added.
Also Sunday, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced a plan to temporarily shut down kindergartens and primary schools located in two posh southern districts in Seoul from Monday to Wednesday.
The education office in Gyeonggi Province also joined the move, saying that it will close down all kindergartens and schools this week in seven areas, including those in Pyeongtaek, where the first infection was confirmed.
On Thursday, more than 900 schools were temporarily closed down across the country as a precaution against the virus.
The World Health Organization said Friday it will send a team of experts to South Korea to work with local authorities to investigate the largest outbreak of the disease outside Saudi Arabia. (Yonhap)
