MERS Virus Outbreak Update 2015: South Korean Confirms 14 Dead, 138 Infected & 2 Hospitals Closed

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South Korea health officials report another death in the country amid the ongoing MERS outbreak, bringing the casualty tally to a total of 14. 

The South Korean health ministry announced Saturday that a 67-year-old woman is the 14th person to die of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) infection, according to ABC News. There have been 12 new confirmed infection cases bringing the total to about 140.

In addition to the update above, International Business Times reports that two ospitals are temporarily shut down and about 3,000 schools remain closed as the threat of MERS infection looms over the country. Almost 4,000 people are currently under quarantine or isolation. The country's health officials are doing numerous health measures to curb the spread of the disease.

Officials are hoping that the disease will dissipate since the MERS virus' maximum incubation period of two weeks for those infected at a hospital in Seoul—considered to be the source of the outbreak—has ended on Friday.

Mediheal Hospital and Changwon SK Hospital were temporarily closed down after the MERS patients of the two facilities were found to have potentially infected hundreds of people, according to the New York Times. Its current patients and staff are currently isolated and quarantined. Mediheal will reopen on June 23 and Changwon SK on June 24.

Despite the new cases and deaths, South Korea believes that MERS is slowing down in the country.

"The number of newly confirmed cases has fallen sharply and there are little risks of the virus spreading through airborne transmissions or to communities outside hospital settings", the SoKor ministry told Yahoo News.

"Therefore, we ask the people to conquer their fear and engage in day-to-day business," SoKor added.

As the outbreak enters its third week in the country, its economic growth and tourism industry have been greatly affected.

More than 50,000 tourists have cancelled trips to South Korea over concerns about the virus, while neighboring countries post health advisories about the outbreak.

According to The Wall Street Journal, there has been a 3 percent cut in SK's economic growth due to wavering experts and its overseas shipments have decreased to 10.9 percent compared to last year.

Park Geun-hye, the country's president, and SK officials have been criticized for their slow response concerning the outbreak. According to Lee Nae-young, a political-science professor from Korea University, Ms Park's indiscernible presence during the initial crisis could cause a backlash to her administration's credibility.

Meanwhile, Kim Sung-woo, senior secretary for public relations, said: "President Park has been mobilizing all national resources to deal actively with the MERS outbreak."

"Nonetheless, given the anxiety among the people over the situation, she has postponed her plan to visit the United States," he explained on Wednesday's news briefing, as per NY Times.