Confirmed cases in South Korean now total 181
with 31 deaths
Another
Samsung Medical Center doctor was found to have been infected with the Middle
East respiratory syndrome, raising questions over measures to protect medical
staff treating patients with the deadly virus, health officials said Friday.
The
Health Ministry said a 26-year-old doctor caught the virus while treating the
135th patient -- an emergency worker who was infected while taking a MERS
patient to the hospital.
As of
Friday afternoon, one additional case and two more deaths were reported,
bringing the total confirmed cases to 181 with 31 deaths. The fatality rate
reached 17.1 per cent. Of the infected, 35 patients are hospital-related
workers, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the total cases. Four of them are
SMC doctors, the authorities said.
The
ministry said that further spread by the latest confirmed patient is unlikely
as the doctor has been isolated since June 17.
The
insufficient protective measures for medical staff is suspected to be the
cause, they said.
“Until
June 17, the protective clothing of SMC staff had apparently been insufficient.
The ministry has reinforced the measures since then,” the quarantine officials
said.
While the
government has recommended the medical facilities to provide D-level protective
equipment for medical staff, SMC only provided protective clothing called VRE
-- which leaves the neck and ankles exposed -- until June 17, they added.
As more
and more medical staff are being exposed to the virus while treating the MERS
patients, fresh concerns are growing over staff shortage at MERS-hit medical
facilities.
At a
public hospital in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, 18 staff have been quarantined
and 39 other workers are in self-isolation after a nurse was confirmed with
MERS.
Meanwhile,
the 10th MERS patient who was being treated in China has fully recovered and
left the hospital, the Health Ministry said.
The
44-year-old caught the virus last month from his father who was infected from
the very first MERS patient at a local hospital.
Being
unaware of his symptoms, he left for Guangzhou on a business trip via Hong Kong
on May 26. Three days later, he was diagnosed with MERS and hospitalised.
The
patient’s medical cost was shouldered by the Chinese government, the
authorities said.
The
Korean government has also covered the treatment cost for a Chinese who was
infected here.
The
returning date of the Korean patient will be kept confidential, citing privacy,
they added.
Also, two
MERS-hit hospitals in Daejeon were cleared from the cohort isolation measures
earlier in the day, the city said. More than 75 patients and medical staff have
been isolated in each hospital since June 5 after several cases were confirmed
at the medical facilities.
Lee
Hyun-jeong
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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