S. Korea detects 7 new MERS cases; toll reaches 15

SEOUL: South Korea Sunday reported its 15th death from the MERS virus as the growing outbreak that has now infected 145 forced one of the nation’s biggest hospitals to suspend most services.
The latest fatality from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome was a 62-year-old man who died Sunday afternoon in the southern port city of Busan, the city council said.
He was diagnosed on June 7 after being infected in Seoul’s Samsung Medical Center, a major hospital and the epicentre of more than 70 cases.
The Health Ministry Sunday also confirmed seven new cases of the virus, including four from the Samsung hospital, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 145.
Among the seven is a paramedic who helped take a MERS patient to the hospital on June 7. On Saturday authorities announced that the ambulance driver also involved in transporting the patient, who died three days later, had contracted the virus.
One of the other new patients was infected in the central city of Daejeon and another in Hwaseong, 43 km south of Seoul.
In order to prevent further infections among patients and medical staff, Samsung hospital on Sunday temporarily suspended most operations.
It will stop treating outpatients, admitting new patients and performing non-urgent surgery, hospital president Song Jae-Hoon told reporters.
No visitors would be allowed, he said, adding he would decide on June 24 whether to continue the partial suspension.
“We offer our deep apology and express regret to all of our patients who were infected here and those placed under quarantine,” Song said.
The hospital, normally visited by more than 8,000 patients a day, has come under fire in recent weeks for failing to stem the spread of the virus among its staff and patients.
Two doctors and three nurses have been infected so far. More than 400 patients, families and medical staff directly or indirectly exposed to the infected ambulance driver have been newly placed under quarantine, Song said.
The overall number under quarantine, either at state facilities or at home, rose Sunday by more than 800 to 4,856.
As the outbreak continued to expand, a South Korean man thought to have contracted MERS was hospitalised in the Slovak capital Bratislava on Saturday.
The 38-year-old reportedly arrived in Slovakia on June 3 and works for a subcontractor of Seoul carmaker Kia, which has a plant in the central European country.