MERS quarantine ends after 68 days

By Kim Bo-eun

There are no more Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) patients quarantined in the nation, signaling the end to an outbreak of the disease that gripped the country for more than two months.

The last isolated person was released Monday.

A total of 16,693 people had been quarantined for MERS since the first person was isolated on May 20, the day the first patient was confirmed.

Overall, it took 68 days for the number of quarantined people to fall to zero.

The figure reached over 6,000 daily in mid-June.

The government is expected to declare the MERS crisis over as of Tuesday.

The official declaration of the end of the epidemic is slated for late August, as the government will follow much stricter guidelines under the World Health Organization (WHO)’s standards. The WHO defines the end as 28 days from the day all patients receive negative results on their genetic testing.

There are currently 12 patients in treatment after contracting the disease. Eleven of them received negative results on genetic testing.

The last patient is also being tested but results continue to vary.

This patient, who has blood cancer, is receiving treatment that administers immune suppressants. It therefore will take some time until the patient can be cleared for MERS.

Eight of the 11 patients who have tested negative have been moved to the general ward. The other three are in unstable condition.

The tally of the epidemic stands at 186 confirmed MERS cases and 36 deaths.

There have been no new outbreaks for 22 days and no new deaths have occurred in 16 days.