MERS recovery cases grow

Recovery outnumbers treatment

By Chung Hyun-chae

People having recovered from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) now outnumber those still undergoing treatment, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Friday.

With eight people newly discharged from quarantine facilities, the total number of MERS patients who have recovered increased to 81, while 68 are still being treated.

Among the eight was the 10th MERS patient who left for China on a business trip after his symptoms had started and was diagnosed with MERS there last month, the ministry said.

According to a Chinese media outlet, he was released from Chinese hospital around 9:30 a.m. and arrived here in the afternoon. The man received a physical examination for one-and-a-half hours until 9:00 p.m. at Incheon International Airport National Quarantine Station and then returned home.

The Chinese government covered all his medical expenses.

Among the 68 patients under treatment, 13 are in a serious condition.

Meanwhile, two more MERS patients died, with the total deaths growing to 31 and the fatality rate, to 17.1 percent.

The two had suffered from chronic diseases and cancer before being infected with MERS, according to the ministry.

Of the 31 deaths, 29, or 93.5 percent, had underlying diseases including cancer, cardiac disorders and diabetes.

One new case was confirmed on Friday, with the total confirmed cases rising to 181.

The latest MERS patient, 26, was a doctor at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul.

While most of patients who contracted the disease at the hospital were infected from the nation’s 14th patient at the emergency room, the doctor contracted it while taking care of a hospital orderly who was also infected by the 14th patient.

This was the second infection of medical staff there from the orderly following another doctor at the intensive care unit.

Following the new case, the ratio of medical staff among the total cases rose to 19.3 percent.

In the meantime, the number of people in isolation for possible infection stood at 2,931, about 280 up from the previous day.

Also, the Shilla Jeju Hotel in Jeju Island, which temporarily closed June 18 after a MERS patient visited there, said it would reopen on July 1 as there had been no cases there for more than the maximum incubation period of 14 days.

A man stayed at the hotel earlier this month and showed MERS symptoms after returning home. He was later diagnosed with the disease.