South Korea reported Sunday its 15th death from the MERS virus as the growing outbreak that has infected 145 forced one of the nation's biggest hospitals to suspend most services.
The latest fatality from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome was a 62-year-old man who died Sunday afternoon in the southern port city of Busan, the city council said.
He was diagnosed on June 7 after being infected in Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul -- a major hospital and the epicentre of more than 70 cases.
The health ministry also confirmed Sunday seven new cases of the virus, including four from the Samsung hospital, bringing the total number of infections to 145.
Separately, a paramedic who helped transport a MERS patient to the hospital on June 7 was infected. On Saturday, authorities announced that the ambulance driver also involved in transporting the patient -- who died three days later -- had also been infected.
One of the other new patients was infected in the central city of Daejeon and another in Hwaseong, about 43 kilometres (27 miles) south of Seoul.
In order to prevent further infections among patients and medical staff, Samsung hospital on Sunday temporarily suspended most of its operations.
It will stop treating outpatients, admitting new patients, or performing surgeries that are not deemed urgent, hospital president Song Jae-Hoon told reporters.
No visitors will be allowed, he said, adding he would decide on June 24 whether or not to continue the partial suspension.
"We offer our deep apology and express regret to all of our patients who were infected here and those placed under quarantine," he said.
The hospital -- normally visited by more than 8,000 patients a day -- has come under fire in recent weeks for failing to stem the spread of the virus among its staff and patients.
Two doctors and three nurses have been infected so far. More than 400 patients, families and medical staff directly or indirectly exposed to the infected ambulance driver had been newly placed under quarantine, Song said.
Nearly 5,000 under quarantine
The overall number of people across the nation who came into contact with patients and were put under quarantine -- either at state facilities or at home -- rose Sunday by more than 800 to 4,856.
As the outbreak continued to expand, a South Korean man thought to have contracted MERS was hospitalised in the Slovak capital Bratislava on Saturday.
The 38-year-old man reportedly arrived in Slovakia on June 3 and works for a subcontractor of Seoul carmaker Kia, which runs a plant in the central European country.
The man did not appear to have contact with patients or visited venues where infections were reported at home, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday.
"He said he had not visited any hospital before leaving for Slovakia," the ministry said in a statement, adding he had contacted the embassy in Slovakia on Saturday as he was developing symptoms such as fever.
There is no vaccine or cure for MERS which, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data, has a fatality rate of around 35 percent.
The outbreak in South Korea -- the largest outside Saudi Arabia -- began when a 68-year-old man was diagnosed on May 20 after a trip to Saudi Arabia.
The virus has since been spreading at an unusually fast pace, sparking widespread alarm in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Businesses including shopping malls and restaurants have reported a sharp drop in sales as people shun public venues with large crowds.
About 100,000 foreign travellers have cancelled planned trips to South Korea since the beginning of this month.
A team of WHO experts who visited Seoul warned that the outbreak was "large and complex" and more cases should be expected.
But it also said it had found no evidence of transmission of the virus in communities outside hospitals.
The outbreak also sparked alarm elsewhere in Asia including Hong Kong, which last week advised its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to South Korea.
AFP
Sun Jun 14 2015
![S. Korea reports 15th MERS death, seven new cases S. Korea reports 15th MERS death, seven new cases](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2015-06/51434253033_295x200.jpg)
South Korean health workers wearing masks as a precaution against MERS virus, wait to check examinees' temperature and to sanitize their hands at a test site for a civil service examination in Seoul, South Korea. - AP Photo/Lee Jin-man
![Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721121786_MuhyiddinYassin.jpg)
Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin
Muhyiddin memberitahu bahawa beliau tidak memfitnah Lim Guan Eng berhubung isu pengecualian cukai terhadap Yayasan Albukhary.
![Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-04/81712376317_TujuanForensik.jpg)
Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas
Gen HNF4A (Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 Alpha) didapati akan berhenti berfungsi pada tubuh pesakit kanser pankreas.
Pantau Agenda Reformasi: Potensi dan cabaran percambahan e-Sukan di Malaysia
Pengerusi Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS) Negeri Selangor
merangkap Timbalan Presiden Majlis Belia Negeri Selangor
E-Sukan mampu mencetak nama Malaysia di pentas dunia. Memahami potensi, kekangan dan peranan yang perlu dimainkan semua pihak dalam melahirkan lebih ramai pemain E-Sukan yang berjaya, seterusnya menyokong pembangunan industri E-Sukan negara.
SRG cipta sejarah pasukan Malaysia pertama juarai MSC MLBB 2024
merangkap Timbalan Presiden Majlis Belia Negeri Selangor
E-Sukan mampu mencetak nama Malaysia di pentas dunia. Memahami potensi, kekangan dan peranan yang perlu dimainkan semua pihak dalam melahirkan lebih ramai pemain E-Sukan yang berjaya, seterusnya menyokong pembangunan industri E-Sukan negara.
SRG cipta sejarah pasukan Malaysia pertama juarai MSC MLBB 2024
Jualan kereta di Malaysia diunjur cecah 765,000 unit
Persatuan Automotif Malaysia (MAA) melakukan semakan semula berkaitan sasaran jumlah keseluruhan industri (TIV) kepada 765,000 unit berbanding unjuran awal 740,000 unit untuk 2024. Semakan dibuat disokong oleh persekitaran ekonomi yang positif dan jumlah tempatan tertunggak yang masih berada pada tahap yang baik
Kementerian Digital cari kaedah kurangkan kos pelaksanaan sistem e-invois
Kerajaan sedang mencari kaedah mengurangkan kos pelaksanaan sistem e-invois untuk Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana (PKS) selepas sistem itu diwajibkan untuk semua perniagaan pada 1 Julai 2025
Perbelanjaan pengguna dijangka meningkat tahun ini
Perbelanjaan Pengguna Malaysia dijangka meningkat sepanjang tahun ini
dengan unjuran sebanyak RM904.6 bilion, ketika proses pemulihan ekonomi menunjukkan kemajuan pada ketika ini.
dengan unjuran sebanyak RM904.6 bilion, ketika proses pemulihan ekonomi menunjukkan kemajuan pada ketika ini.
![Suspek bunuh Nur Farah Kartini dibawa ke lokasi kejadian Suspek bunuh Nur Farah Kartini dibawa ke lokasi kejadian](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/71721123609_lokasi.jpg)
Suspek bunuh Nur Farah Kartini dibawa ke lokasi kejadian
Suspek kes pembunuhan Nur Farah Kartini Abdullah dibawa ke lokasi kejadian di ladang kelapa sawit di Kampung Sri Keledang, Hulu Bernam, Selangor.
Beberapa kementerian bincang perketat undang-undang - Fahmi
Penambahbaikan aspek perundangan akan diteliti kerajaan, termasuk mengadakan perbincangan dengan beberapa kementerian berkaitan dalam masa terdekat, bagi memperketatkan undang-undang berkaitan buli siber.
Denda terhadap syarikat ADSSB lewat bekal Black Hawk
Adly berkata, pihak ADSSB juga turut telah memohon tuntutan lanjutan masa kedua kepada pihak kementerian.
Faisal Halim berduka pemergian Kim Pan-gon
Pemain kebangsaan, Faisal Halim, meluahkan rasa kekecewaan menerusi laman Instagramnya ekoran pengumuman mengejut Kim Pan-gon meletakkan jawatan sebagai Ketua Jurulatih Skuad Kebangsaan serta-merta.
Sebelum ini, jurulatih berusia 55 tahun itu meluangkan masa melawat tonggak Selangor itu ketika dimasukkan ke hospital akibat terkena simbahan asid di sebuah pusat beli belah di Lembah Klang.
Sebelum ini, jurulatih berusia 55 tahun itu meluangkan masa melawat tonggak Selangor itu ketika dimasukkan ke hospital akibat terkena simbahan asid di sebuah pusat beli belah di Lembah Klang.