South Korea's Last Suspected MERS Case Removed From Isolation

A medical practitioner treats a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) patient in an isolation ward at Seoul Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, 10 June 2015. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

BANGKOK (DPA) — The last suspected Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) patient in South Korea was removed from isolation on Monday, a news report said.

It had been three weeks since the country reported a new case of the disease, and Monday's release suggested the country does not expect any more new cases, Yonhap News Agency reported.

More than 16,000 people have been subject to isolation since the country reported its first MERS case on May 20, Yonhap said. They have all been released as of Monday.

Twelve people who had been positively diagnosed with the virus were still hospitalized, although 11 of those had since been declared free of MERS, Yonhap reported.

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The disease killed at least 530 people throughout the world, with a fatality rate of 36 per cent, it said. The fatality rate in the Korean outbreak was significantly lower.

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South Korea was expected to announce a "de facto" end to MERS early next month, Yonhap reported.

 

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