MOSCOW (Sputnik) — South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare confirmed that six people died of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), with 23 new cases of the disease reported, local media reported Monday.
According to the Yonhap news agency, 87 people are now diagnosed with the disease. The government considers the outbreak to not be out of control, as all of the confirmed cases occurred in hospitals, the media outlet reported.
South Korea confirmed its first MERS case on May 20. Since then, more than 500 schools were shut nationwide and over a thousand people were quarantined.
Middle East respiratory syndrome is a viral respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (MERS‐CoV). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the typical symptoms of MERS include fever, cough and shortness of breath.
MERS was first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia and then spread to other countries.
