By Chung Hyun-chae
The number of confirmed cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) increased to 64 with an additional 14 cases reported on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Ten of the 14 patients contracted the virus while staying at Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul, where the country’s 14th patient stayed in its emergency room from May 27 to 29. This has raised concerns that the facility may have become a second epicenter of the disease following confirmation of the first patient at Pyeongtaek St. Mary’s Hospital in Gyeonggi Province.
According to the ministry, the total number of MERS cases has risen to 64 with five confirmed deaths.
The latest fatality was a 75-year-old man who died on Friday. However, it wasn't confirmed until Sunday that he had been infected with the disease.
The ministry believes he contracted the virus on May 27 after using the same emergency room at Samsung Medical Center as the 14th confirmed MERS patient
The positive MERS test results for three of the five dead only became public after they died, which has drawn criticism of the government from the public for the slow response.
In total, 17 of the total confirmed cases contracted the virus at Samsung Medical Center, with the majority of the newly confirmed cases being sourced to the hospital rather than Pyeongtaek St. Mary’s Hospital, causing great consternation in the capital.
The disease’s spread at Samsung Medical Center started after the 14th patient visited its emergency room. Among the 17 cases there, two were medical personnel.
According to the hospital, a total of 675 patients and 218 medical staff were possibly exposed to the MERS virus as they visited the emergency room during the 14th patient’s stay.
“We notified those people of the fact and are taking necessary quarantine measures,” Samsung Medical Center President Song Jae-hoon said during a media briefing.
The medical staffers affected were ordered to stay at home, while exposed patients have been quarantined at the hospital or ordered to stay at home for monitoring.
However, the hospital may now have difficulty treating patients because more than 200 staffers were excluded from work.
The authority also pointed out that patients of Samsung Medical Center could spread the MERS virus to local communities nationwide considering that the hospital treats patients from all over Korea.
Meanwhile, more than 2,360 people have been quarantined at government-designated facilities or ordered to stay at home as of Sunday.
The regional educational office decided to close down 126 kindergartens and elementary schools in Gangnam and Seocho districts for three days from Monday to Wednesday over fears of MERS spreading, as more patients have been confirmed at Samsung Medical Center in Gangnam.
Some 1,200 schools in Gyeonggi Province will also close down temporarily.
More schools are expected to shut down as the disease is spreading.