By Kim Se-jeong
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday that it has placed Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on a list of communicable diseases whose occurrence must be immediately made public.
Health authorities are required to disclose relevant information to the public quickly in the case of the outbreak, such as hospitals and other establishments infected patients visited.
“MERS was included as a Group 4 infectious disease, which is those that break out overseas and are brought into the country,” a ministry official said. Plague, yellow fever, dengue fever and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) are also on the list.
Previously MERS was a disease which the health ministry designated as requiring monitoring for possible spread.
In the meantime, no new cases or deaths from MERS were reported, Thursday, with the total confirmed cases remaining at 186 and deaths, 35.
Out of the 151 remaining cases, 120 have been discharged from state-run quarantine facilities after recovery; 23 are being treated in two different medical facilities with light symptoms, while eight others are in critical condition.
The ministry said it is continuing to consult with the World Health Organization regarding when to declare an end to the deadly disease.
Meanwhile, a clinic in central Seoul, where one of MERS patients was treated, filed for bankruptcy last week, the first to do so since the outbreak. The clinic said it was unable to continue operating as people have not been coming for treatment despite the fact that the incubation period for the disease had already passed.