DHAKA: South Korea reported Sunday seven new cases of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) virus in an outbreak that has killed 15 people, as one citizen was hospitalized in Slovakia after being suspected of carrying the disease there and a hard-hit Seoul hospital suspended operations to prevent further spread.

The seven new cases put the total number of infections of Mers in South Korea at 145, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, reports The Straits Times.

The latest fatality was a 62-year-old man who died on Sunday afternoon in the southern port city of Busan, the city council said. He was diagnosed on June 7 after being infected in Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul – a major hospital and the epicenter of more than 70 cases.

Three of the new cases were infected in Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul, one of the country’s largest hospitals where more than 70 people have contracted the virus, it said.

Among them was a paramedic who helped transport a Mers patient to Samsung hospital on June 7. On Saturday, the authorities announced that the ambulance driver also involved in transporting the patient – who died three days later - had also been infected.

One of the other new patients was infected in the central city of Daejeon and another in the city of Hwaseong, about 43km south of Seoul.

The ministry said 10 patients so far had recovered and been released from hospital.

BDST: 1325 HRS, JUN 14, 2015
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