South Korea’s Last MERS Patient Tests Negative For The Virus, Says Ministry Of Health And Welfare Officials
Officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on Thursday that South Korea's last patient for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) tested negative for the virus after undergoing two examinations.
The 35-year-old South Korean previously diagnosed with MERS was the last patient "who had not been declared free of the MERS virus," Yonhap News Agency reported on the same day.
The patient underwent two examinations on Wednesday and Thursday before he was declared negative for the viral respiratory illness.
"It took a long time for the patient to test negative because of an underlying problem with his immune system," said one of the doctors who treated the patient, as noted by The Chosunilbo on Friday.
After the last patient tested negative, an official declaration of the end of the MERS outbreak in South Korea would push through on October 29, "28 days after the last person ever diagnosed with MERS showed a complete recovery from the disease," a requirement by the World Health Organization (WHO) before a country could be declared MERS-free.
On July 28, Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo Ahn declared a "de facto end" to the MERS outbreak. But before the 28-days even begun, one citizen tested positive for the virus.
186 people had been infected with MERS virus since May 20, with 36 reported deaths.
The MERS outbreak in South Korea affected the tourism of the country. Some 67,000 tourists from different countries cancelled their flights between June 1 and 2, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.
The government even announced plans to waive visa charges for visitors coming from China and South East Asian countries.
"These measures are aimed to help boost the tourism industry, which has been affected by the MERS outbreak," the justice ministry said in a dispatch.
The first case of MERS was reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Since then, the virus spread to some countries including United States and South Korea.
