Sees no extra budget for economy after MERS outbreak
South Korean health officials on Sunday reported 14 more cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), bringing the total in the country’s outbreak to 64, and said a fifth person infected with the virus had died.
South Korea’s outbreak of the often-deadly MERS virus, first reported on May 20, is the largest outside the Middle East, prompting public fear and questions over the government’s initial response.
The patient who died was a 75-year-old man who had been in the same Seoul hospital emergency room where a total of 17 people, including two medical staff, are believed to have been infected with MERS, South Korea’s health ministry said.
Of the 14 new cases, 10 were at the same Seoul hospital. All of the confirmed South Korean infections have taken place in healthcare facilities, officials have said.
In the meanwhile, South Korea said on Sunday it has no plan yet to draw up a supplementary budget to help stop the outbreak of the MERS from damaging Asia’s fourth-largest economy, already struggling to keep up a recovery.
Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan, who is also finance minister, said during a televised news conference that the impact on the overall economy from the illness was not serious enough to talk about a supplementary budget for stimulus.