Shilla Jeju hotel closes over MERS fears

A government official disinfects the Shilla Jeju hotel in the nation's southern resort island of Jeju, Thursday. / Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

The Shilla Jeju hotel has shut temporarily just days after a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) case was confirmed there.

“We sent all the guests to other accommodation or home on Thursday over MERS worries,” a Shilla official told The Korea Times. He said the luxury hotel on the southern resort island of Jeju will be closed until worries about MERS subsides.

The closure came two days after health authorities said one of the guests, who stayed at the hotel for four days, was later confirmed to have MERS.

“He had stayed at the hotel with his family from June 5-8,” the hotel official said. “He did not show any symptoms at that time. But the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later notified us that he was confirmed to have been infected with MERS.”

The man, 42, showed MERS symptoms a day after returning to Seoul. He rested at home until testing positive at a local health center on June 12. The infection was confirmed the next day.

No other suspected cases have been reported, the hotel official said.

“We helped customers find other accommodation if they wanted to stay more days on the island,” the official said. “For those who did not want to, we offered plane tickets. We will bear all the expenses.”

He denied reports that the Jeju provincial government and other authorities had urged the hotel to shut down.

“We were not forced to make the decision,” the hotel official said. “Safety of our customers and staff are the top priorities for the hotel. That’s why we made the decision.”

All the hotel’s rooms and facilities have been disinfected.

On Thursday, Jeju Island Governor Won Hee-ryong held a press conference and said: “We have been monitoring 11 people who had travelled with the patient. But they have not shown any MERS symptoms. We don’t have to jump to the conclusion that there’s a high chance of additional cases of infection.”