Ministry of Health and Welfare

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

* The 180^th case shared the same ward with the 143 case at Good Gang-An Hospital (Busan) between June 8^th and June 12^th, and was diagnosed with MERS while being under quarantine and monitored at the same hospital starting on June 14^th.

** Age, sex and comorbidity of deaths

- Sex: Male 21 (72.4%), female 8 (27.6%)

- Age above 60 year old: 24 (82.7%)

- 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 were 27 (93.1%).

*** 15 are in severe conditions, and 62 in moderate conditions

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

* Including 1 Confirmed case in China

¨ Update on Hospitals Under Strict Control

-A quarantine for MERS on SK Hospital (Changwon) was lifted on June 25^th after the Immediate Response Team led by Professor Lee Jae-gab concluded that those quarantined inside the hospital no longer developed fever or symptoms of respiratory illness.

- Before finishing the quarantine period, the Immediate Response Team usually runs PCR tests on suspected MERS patients and checks whether they have symptoms.

¨ Update on Konkuk University Medical Center and Hallym University Medical Center On June 24^th, the two hospitals were allowed to provide a medical phone service for their outpatients and fax them a prescription.

¨ Update on Release from Quarantine

-As of June 25^th, 74 out of 180 confirmed cases were completely cured and released from quarantine. Accordingly, more than 40% of the total confirmed cases have left hospital.

-74 individuals discharged from hospitals include 31 outpatients and inpatients, 29 family members and visitors, and 14 medical professional and staff .

¨ MERS Countermeasures

-In order to strengthen infection control, the government will take proactive measures against those who visit hospital emergency rooms:

-Visiting patients is limited and controlled, according to the internal policy of each medical institution.

-Each medical institution must request all visitors, including an ambulance crew, except medical staff to write their name on the list of visitors, and keep and manage it.

¨ Incubation Period

-Many people have questioned whether the “14-day incubation period for MERS” is accurate. In fact, the time is based on epidemiological and scientific evidence found in many papers published since the first outbreak of MERS around the Middle East in 2012.

-The government stressed that the “14 days” is the standard used by the world including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S.

¨ Mean Time from Onset to Discharge, and Mean Time from Confirmation to Discharge