The WHO chief has lauded South Korean officials and exhausted health workers for their efforts to contain a deadly (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) MERS virus outbreak. Their relentless work has now lowered its risk among public.
Speaking at a news conference in Seoul, Margaret Chan, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that it’s a good sign that the disease has so far been confined to a few hospitals and isn’t spreading in the wider community. However, she cautioned that there was a need to strengthen monitoring and quarantine efforts, as MERS virus was new to the people in South Korea.
People in South Korea are still worried about their safety, as the MERS has killed 23 people in the country so far.
According to Seoul’s Health Ministry, more than 160 people have been diagnosed with MERS, and over 6,700 people are isolated at home and in several medical facilities, nearly a month after the outbreak began with a 68-year-old man who had traveled to the Middle East.
Ms Margaret said that South Korean officials struggled to identify the MERS viruses and the contacts of those infected. They were reluctant to name the hospital where the patients were being treated. But after the slow start the government has responded well to the situation.
The outbreak began at Seoul’s Samsung Medical Center, which was later shut down because it continued to be the main source of MERS infections. The government officials failed to enforce tight control measure in the hospital. Several patients, medical staff and visitors were infected with MERS at the hospitals, and were believed to have contacted thousands of other people before their conditions were confirmed.
Government officials said that the outbreak could be defused by the end of this month. There is no vaccine to prevent the disease.
Officials have also started to contact nearly 50,000 people who visited to hospitals between May and June to ask if they are experiencing MERS-related symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath.
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