Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


                     6th Person Dies of MERS in South Korea

   by VOA News

   The South Korean Health Ministry has announced the death of a sixth
   person from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

   The victim was an 80-year-old man who tested positive for the virus
   while being treated for pneumonia, the Ministry said Monday.

   Eighty-seven people in South Korea have been infected with the disease,
   according the Health Ministry.

   South Korea has also closed down nearly 2,000 schools in an effort to
   stop the spread of the virus.

   The government said it is also stepping up the monitoring of hundreds
   of undiagnosed people who are quarantined in their homes because they
   may have come in contact with the virus.  The monitoring will include
   the tracking of the quarantined people's cell phone signals.

   The government reversed its policy and on Sunday revealed  the 24
   health care facilities where MERS patients have been diagnosed or
   treated.  The revelation of the names of the facilities follows the
   discovery one location had an unusually high number of MERS cases.

   Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said Sunday "all the MERS cases
   have been hospital-associated and there has been no case of an
   infection in other social settings."  He said "we think we have a
   chance at putting the outbreak under total control."

   MERS, a coronavirus, is related to the one that infected thousands
   during the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or
   SARS.  It has no cure or vaccine.  MERS was first reported in Saudi
   Arabia in 2012 and has spread to several other countries.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/mers-south-korea/2811719.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/mers-south-korea/2811719.html