By Lee Kyung-min
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon called for “excessive” precautionary measures in dealing with a recent case of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Sunday, saying such a response is far better than “belated regret.”
Lee presided over an emergency Cabinet meeting of relevant ministers convened to discuss countermeasures against the further spread of MERS.
“In 2015, when the country had its first confirmed MERS outbreak that entailed 38 deaths, we as a nation experienced a great fear and frustration over the government's inept, irresponsible measures that fanned distrust among the public. We will not make the same mistake,” he said.
“The whole developments should be disclosed to the public in a transparent and swift manner to ensure public safety.”
The remarks came a day after a man, who took a three-week business trip to Kuwait, was confirmed to have been infected with MERS coronavirus (CoV), Saturday, a day after he arrived in Seoul.
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), the man, 61, whose identity is being withheld, returned to Korea from a business trip in Al-Zour, Kuwait.
While staying there from Aug. 16 to Sept 6, he visited a local medical institute Aug. 28 to treat diarrhea. He returned to Korea after a brief stop at Dubai of the United Arab Emirates.
Upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport on 4:51 p.m. Friday, he underwent immigration and quarantine procedures.
He met his wife who went there to see him and they took a taxi to visit the emergency room of Samsung Medical Center (SMC) in southern Seoul to treat his diarrhea at 7:22 p.m.
The hospital examined him in an isolated area inside the emergency room where he showed symptoms of fever, phlegm and pneumonia, following which the hospital officials reported the case to the health authorities as a suspected case of MERS.
Three hours later, he was moved to Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) in central Seoul at 12:33 a.m. Saturday. His test result came back positive for the disease, 4 p.m., following a test conducted by the Seoul city-run Health and Environment Research Institute.
A doctor who treated him said further monitoring is required despite the seemingly negligible symptoms as of now. “His blood pressure has not dropped significantly, nor does he have difficulty breathing. But he should be under continued monitoring because his symptoms could progress rapidly over the next two weeks.”
Over 20 individuals who came into close contact with him remain quarantined at home including his wife, flight attendants, passengers, medical staff and quarantine and immigration officials. Over 440 that came to contact with him are under monitoring, officials said.
The KCDC said given the incubation period of up to 14 days, he is presumed to have been infected while staying in Kuwait. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the KCDC are conducting interviews to check if any Koreans who came into close contact with the man there exhibit similar symptoms.
The MERS-CoV was first reported to cause human infection in Saudi Arabia in September 2012 and has since spread to other countries. Most people infected with the virus develop severe acute respiratory illness, including fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
Korea had its first confirmed MERS patient on May 20, 2015. Since then, 186 were infected of which 38 died while 16,752 others had been quarantined until Dec. 23, 2015.
MERS, a viral respiratory disease with a fatality rate of up to 46 percent, can be caused by a novel coronavirus carried by camels but it can be spread more frequently when someone is in close contact with a patient in a hospital setting.