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South Korea Reports 3rd Death From MERS Virus South Korea Reports 3rd Death From MERS Virus
(about 4 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — An 82-year-old man has died of Middle East respiratory syndrome, officials said on Thursday, confirming a third death in South Korea caused by the virus that has forced more than 1,160 schools and kindergartens in the country to shut down temporarily. SEOUL, South Korea — An 82-year-old man has died of Middle East respiratory syndrome in South Korea, officials said on Thursday. His was the third confirmed death in what has become the largest outbreak of the viral disease outside the Middle East.
The man died on Wednesday and a posthumous test showed him to be infected with the virus, also known as MERS, the government said in a statement. More than 1,160 schools and kindergartens in South Korea have been shut down temporarily, and many Koreans are wearing surgical masks in public out of fear of infection.
The man had not been on the list of 35 South Koreans that the government said were infected, raising further questions about its ability to contain the virus. Two other South Korean patients died on Monday. The government said in a statement that the man died on Wednesday, and a posthumous test showed that he was infected with the MERS virus, making his the 36th confirmed case in South Korea.
The 82-year-old was being treated for asthma and pneumonia in late May when a new patient arrived in his hospital room. That patient was later found to be carrying the virus. Three other patients who stayed in that room have since tested positive. As fears of the virus spread, the government of President Park Geun-hye has been accused of endangering the public by withholding information about the outbreak; the most recent criticism came from the influential mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon.
An earlier test on the 82-year-old showed that he was not infected, and he was under quarantine for further observation when he died, officials said. In a news conference on Thursday, Mr. Park assailed the national government for not disclosing that a doctor employed at a Seoul hospital who was quarantined with MERS symptoms on Sunday had attended a gathering of more than 1,500 people in the southern part of the city the day before.
As fears of the virus spread in the past few days, the number of kindergartens and schools that have temporarily shut down to prevent the spread of the virus has jumped to 1,164 from 230. Most of the closed schools are in Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, the capital. The health ministry announced earlier on Thursday that the doctor was the country’s 35th confirmed MERS patient and that he had caught the virus from a patient he treated on May 27, but it did not mention the gathering.
Most of the MERS cases reported so far involve patients believed to have been infected in hospitals in that province. “It increased the possibility that the virus spread and infected more people,” the mayor said, calling the development a “grave situation.” Mr. Park said city officials had begun phoning all those who had attended the gathering to ask them to quarantine themselves.
The government has refused to disclose the names and locations of six hospitals where it said the MERS cases were discovered. All of those infected were either patients, medical staff members or visitors. The government has raced to track down all those who may have come into contact with the MERS patients, isolating more than 1,660 people in their homes or at state-run facilities to see if they develop symptoms of the virus. The government did not immediately respond to the mayor’s criticism.
Fear of the virus appeared also to have crossed the heavily armed border with North Korea. Its ability to contain the virus came under more scrutiny on Thursday with news of the 82-year-old man’s death. He apparently caught the virus in a hospital, where he was being treated for asthma and pneumonia in late May. A new patient placed in his room was later found to be carrying the virus, and thee others who stayed in the room have since tested positive, but an earlier test did not find the virus in him, officials said; he was under quarantine for further observation when he died.
On Thursday, the Unification Ministry of South Korea said that the North had asked it to lend heat-detecting cameras to help screen potential MERS patients among South Korean factory managers commuting to an industrial park run jointly by the two countries in the North Korean border city of Kaesong. In the complex, 54,000 North Koreans work in 124 factories run by the South. Most of the MERS cases reported in South Korea so far are believed to have been infected in hospitals in Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul. The cases include staff members, patients and visitors. The government has refused to name the six hospitals in Gyeonggi and nearby cities where the patients were infected.
Ministry officials said there had been no indication that the North would temporarily close the Kaesong complex over fear of the virus. The site is an important source of money for the North Korean government. Health officials have raced to track down anyone who may have come into contact with known MERS patients, and have isolated more than 1,660 people in their homes or at state-run facilities to see if they develop symptoms.
South Korea planned to provide the North with three heat-detecting cameras. It also lent similar cameras to the North in November, when North Korea tightened inspections at ports and airports and closed its borders to all foreign tourists to guard against Ebola. North Korea lifted its ban in early March. Worries about the virus appear to have spread to North Korea as well. On Thursday, the South Korean government said that the North had asked to borrow heat-detecting cameras to help screen South Korean factory managers as they commute to an industrial park run jointly by the two countries in the North Korean border city of Kaesong. In the complex, 54,000 North Koreans work in 124 factories run by the South.
Thousands of North Koreans are said to be working at building sites in the Middle East, where MERS first emerged in 2012 and where the vast majority of the more than 470 deaths attributed to it have occurred. The industrial park is an important source of earnings for the North, and South Korean officials said there had been no indication that the North planned to close it temporarily because of the viral outbreak.
The South Korean government said it would lend three of the cameras to the North, as it did in November when North Korea tightened inspections at ports and airports and closed its borders to foreign tourists to guard against the Ebola virus. North Korea reopened the border to tourists in early March.
Thousands of North Koreans are said to be working at building sites in the Middle East, where the virus first emerged in 2012. In all, more than 470 deaths have been linked to the virus, the vast majority of them in the Middle East.