Samsung hospital resumes operations Monday

By Jung Min-ho

Samsung Medical Center, which was blamed as a major source of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) infections, will resume normal operations on Monday as the epidemic shows signs of abating, health authorities said Friday.

Shaken by the rising number of MERS infections in its wards, the hospital in southern Seoul partially shut down on June 14.

“Samsung Medical Center will be allowed to resume normal operations on Monday unless any new problems emerge,” Kwon Deok-cheol, head of a MERS task force under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said.

The hospital, which is responsible for 91 out of the total 186 MERS cases in the country, is the last of 15 that were partially closed or shutdown to prevent the spread of the killer virus.

Meanwhile, the ministry reported no additional cases of MERS for a 12th consecutive day, with no fatalities occurring in six days.

The number of people diagnosed with MERS remained at 186, while the death toll remained at 36.

With one person newly discharged from a hospital, the number of full recoveries rose to 134.

Of the remaining 16 receiving treatment in hospitals, four are in unstable condition, Kwon said.

There are now 155 people quarantined in their homes and hospitals as suspected MERS patients, 103 down from the previous day.

Since the country’s first case was found on May 20, nearly 16,700 people have been subject to isolation for possible infection. So far, 16,538 of them have been released after showing no symptoms of MERS.

As MERS appears to be fading, the ministry is in talks with the World Health Organization over when to declare an end to the disease here.