MERS Virus Outbreak: South Korea Using Cellphones to Curb Spreading, 2,300 Quarantined & 87 Cases Reported

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The number of people infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome has climbed to 87, while over 2,300 people were put on quarantine either at home or in health facilities. More than 1,800 schools were closed down. On Monday, an 80-year-old man died from the infection, bringing the total number of MERS deaths in the country to six.

The latest virus fatality, the 80-year-old man was said to have received treatment in Daejeon. It was also confirmed that a teenager was added to the list of newly infected cases, CNN reports.

With over 2,300 people under quarantine, the South Korean government announced that they will be tracking the cell phones of quarantined people as preventive measure to make sure they stay at home.

"Please understand this is an unavoidable measure for the sake of our neighbors and families," said Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan at a briefing, as reported by Yahoo.

Health authorities say that they've been keeping a close eye on the people under quarantine.

"We are actively tracing their locations, cooperating with police or using other methods. We did cell phone tracking in a couple of cases. For contacts we must find, we will request location tracking and receive data," said Jeong Eun-kyeong, a South Korean disease control center official.

Authorities found out that less than 10 people had broken quarantine rules. They were quickly located and taken back home, according to Reuters. Jeong added that those who will break the rules can be fined.

The first MERS outbreak in the country was reported on May 20. Since its announcement, it has brought down the closure of more than 1,800 schools with thousands of tourists cancelling their trips to the country.

Despite the public criticism over the government's disclosure of information, they are confident that MERS will be taken under control.

"We can absolutely control this because all Mers cases in our country are infections in health facilities, not spreading into communities," Choi said via The Guardian.

"Even if this arrives in communities, it's very unlikely to become pandemic," said Eon-Joong-sik, one of Hallym University's medical professors. "If we prevent transmissions between hospitals, we will see only episodic cases from now on."

According to Stephen Morse of Columbia University, South Korea's preventive measures of quarantining suspected cases and keeping tabs on patient visitors are sufficient in stopping the spread of the disease.

"There will be a time lag, since the disease takes some days to develop, but if the proper measures are being taken, there should soon be a large falloff in the number of new cases," Morse said.