Ministry of Health and Welfare

¨ Table 1. Current status of MERS cases in Republic of Korea

* Age, sex and comorbidity of deaths

- Sex: Male 22 (64.7%), female 12 (35.3%)

- Age above 60 years old: 27 (79.4 %)

- Comorbidity: the number of high-risk patients in old age or with underlying medical conditions such as cardio-cerebrovascular disease, cancer and chronic respiratory disease is 31 (91.2%).

** The states of 24 cases are stable and those of 9 cases unstable.

¨ Table 2. Current status of MERS quarantine in Republic of Korea

¨ A database for MERS study resources such as clinical specimen

- In addition to constant efforts to stop the further spread of MERS-CoV, the government feels the need to build a systematic basis for MERS-related study resources and manage it, in order to effectively and quickly respond to possible infections in the future.

- Study resources such as the causative agent of the viral infection and its clinical specimen as well as infected persons' epidemiological and clinical information will be secured at the right time, and this will lead to building a basis for the use and sharing of infection-related resources among the government and investigators.

- Confirmed MERS cases' clinical information, such as sputum and urine specimens and medical record, and epidemiological study resources will be collected from medical institutions and test agencies, and be used to build a database.

- This will contribute to further scientific study on this infectious disease in the country and elsewhere, which involves early diagnosis and treatment, and the development of vaccine technologies.

¨ In relation to multi-bed rooms in hospitals

- The government will not withdraw its previous plan to increase the number of general multi-bed rooms in large hospitals to 70%, because this makes the public ease the burden of medical expenses and gain easy access to medical services.

- Increasing the number of single or double isolation rooms by subsidizing medical expenses is part of the government's measures against the infectious disease.

¨ In relation to the MERS special committee

- The special committee meeting will be held four times at the National Assembly from July 8 to July 16.