S.Korea reports jump in MERS infections, sixth patient dies

FOCUS ON SCHOOLS

Tourists wearing masks to prevent themselves from contracting Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) arrive at the Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, June 7, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

The South Korean government, under criticism for a lack of transparency and failing to respond swiftly to the outbreak, identified 24 health facilities where MERS patients have been present, including six where infections are known to have occurred.

Reflecting public concern among parents, 1,869 schools across the country were due to be closed on Monday, the Education Ministry said.

All school trips from Singapore to South Korea had been postponed or cancelled, Singaporean media reported over the weekend, citing the Ministry of Education.

The quarantine office at Japan's Narita Airport, which serves Tokyo, said announcements were being made on planes from South Korea that anybody who might have been in contact with a MERS patient or been in a hospital with MERS patients needed to report to quarantine officials.

Seventeen of the new South Korean cases come from the same Seoul hospital emergency room where the country's first patient was diagnosed, the Health Ministry said.

There were no additional cases from another hospital which produced the first wave of infections with 37 patients.

The country's first patient returned from Saudi Arabia in early May, officials have said.

First identified in humans in 2012, MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

South Korea's new cases bring the total globally to 1,236, based on World Health Organization (WHO) data, with at least 445 related deaths.

With the economy already flagging, the MERS outbreak is adding pressure for another interest rate cut in South Korea, possibly as soon as the central bank's next policy meeting this week. The finance minister has said there is no need for a supplementary budget.