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Roundup: S. Korea mulls declaration of end of MERS crisis amid easing public fears

Xinhua, July 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Korea is mulling an earlier- than-anticipated announcement of the end of its Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) crisis as no infection case was added for the past 11 days.

Kwon Duk-cheol, head of the central MERS management headquarters, told a press briefing Thursday that Seoul is considering the declaration of the end of the MERS crisis by downgrading its own alert level.

The head said South Korea will seek to persuade the World Health Organization to understand the country's own standard, while accepting recommendations from the global health agency.

The health authorities are reportedly considering the Aug. 2 as one of possible declaration dates as the date falls in the day four weeks after the last confirmed case was reported.

The WHO recommends that the declaration should be made four weeks after the last infectee is tested negative for the viral disease. Two patients are still tested positive among 17 patients now under treatment.

The total contagion cases were unchanged at 186 for 11 days, and the death toll showed no change at 36 for five straight days as of Thursday. In the past 19 days, only four cases were identified, indicating the MERS crisis close to an end.

Amid the easing MERS fears, South Koreans recently resumed outside activities, with roads and highways crowded with passenger cars last weekend.

Consumers refrained from entertainment and social gatherings as the infection fears peaked in June, but people went outside for shopping, entertainment and picnic ahead of the summer vacation season.

To relieve fears among foreign tourists, some South Korean companies and the Seoul city government invited 200 Chinese people, including 150 representatives of travel agency, 40 journalists and 10 citizens, to the capital Seoul to explain the safety of tourist attractions.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and some South Korean lawmakers walked together with the invited Chinese on the street of Myeong- dong, a shopping district for foreign tourists.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, at least 130,000 foreign tourists canceled travel to South Korea in June alone because of the MERS concerns.

The South Korean foreign ministry plans to hold a briefing session on the subdued MERS spread next Monday for foreign missions in Seoul as part of efforts to relieve worries among foreign tourists. Endi