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S. Korea regrets Seoul city gov't response to doctor's MERS spread

Xinhua, June 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Korean Health and Welfare Minister Moon Hyung-pyo expressed regrets Friday over the Seoul city government's Thursday night announcement of a doctor at a hospital in capital Seoul having contact with thousands of unspecified individuals.

Moon told a press briefing that it was very regrettable for the city government to have caused unnecessary concerns and misunderstanding by unilaterally announcing its position on the central government's response to prevent the spread of the MERS.

The minister said that the health ministry rapidly conducted an epidemiological survey after the doctor began to be suspected of the MERS infection on May 31 and shared such information with the city government.

His comments came after Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon told an emergency press briefing on Thursday night that a doctor at a hospital in Seoul strode down the street for three days through May 31 although he was put under a self-quarantine and had contact with thousands of people.

The city called on the central government to make public such facts and share information on his outside activity, but the central government failed to respond to the call. So, the city disclosed the facts Thursday night, Park said.

Moon said that it shared information on the doctor with the city government after conducting an epidemiological survey and consulted with the city government to discuss measures to prevent the MERS spread.

The health ministry has called for the doctor's family and 49 others who had close contact with the doctor at the hospital to stay at home for self-quarantine.

The minister disclosed the name of a hospital in Gyeonggi Province, the Pyeongtaek St. Mary's Hospital where a majority of infectees contracted the MERS corona virus, and asked people visiting the hospital to report their visit to the health ministry for examination and monitoring.

The Pyeongtaek St. Mary's Hospital, located in the city of the same name about 60 km south of Seoul, is a place where the patient zero was hospitalized for three days from May 15. At least 30 people were infected there. Endi