2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in South Korea


An outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus occurred in South Korea from May 2015 to July 2015. The virus, which causes Middle East respiratory syndrome, was a newly emerged betacoronavirus that was first identified in a patient from Saudi Arabia in April 2012. From the outbreak, a total of 186 cases have been infected, with a death toll of 36.

Outbreak

South Korea reported its first MERS case on 20 May 2015. A 68-year-old man returning from the Middle East was diagnosed with MERS nine days after he initially sought medical help.
The following table shows the daily statistics on the number of infected persons since 20 May 2015, based on the official report of the Central MERS Management Task Force, Ministry of Health and Welfare at the beginning of each day.
DateCasesDeaths
20 May 201520
21 May 201530
26 May 201550
27 May 201550
28 May 201570
29 May 2015130
30 May 2015150
31 May 2015180
1 June 2015251
2 June 2015301
3 June 2015303
4 June 2015364
5 June 2015425
6 June 2015645
7 June 2015875
8 June 2015957
9 June 20151087
10 June 20151229
11 June 201512610
12 June 201513813
13 June 201514514
14 June 201515016
15 June 201515419
16 June 201516219
17 June 201516523
18 June 201516624
19 June 201516624
20 June 201516925
21 June 201517227
22 June 201517527
23 June 201517927
24 June 201518029
25 June 201518131
26 June 201518231
27 June 201518232
28 June 201518232
29 June 201518233
30 June 201518233
1 July 201518333
2 July 201518433
3 July 201518533
4 July 201518633
5 July 201518633
6 July 201518633
7 July 201518635
8 July 201518635
9 July 201518635
10 July 201518636
11 July 201518636
12 July 201518636
13 July 201518636
14 July 201518636
15 July 201518636
16 July 201518636
17 July 201518636
18 July 201518636
19 July 201518636
20 July 201518636
21 July 201518636
22 July 201518636
23 July 201518636
24 July 201518636
25 July 201518636
26 July 201518636
27 July 201518636
28 July 2015 ~ 24 October 201518636
25 October 201518637
26 October 2015 ~ 24 November 201518637
25 November 201518638
26 November 2015 ~ 28 September 201618638

Includes a case reported in China
Parentheses indicate interim value

Main transmission route and event timeline

Government reaction

The Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare initially withheld details from the public,
On 7 June, after 2,361 people were isolated, 64 patients were confirmed infected and 5 had died,>> the central government finally disclosed the names of MERS exposed medical institutions.>HospitalsOn 7 June 2015, the South Korean government released the names of 24 MERS-affected hospitals to the public. These hospitals include the Pyeongtaek St. Mary's Hospital and the Seoul Samsung Hospital, an affiliate of Samsung Medical Center.

Related incidents

A 44-year-old South Korean man travelled to Huizhou, China via Hong Kong, name =ReutersBeijingHK
>> on business, on 26 May, contrary to a doctor's advice and in breach of a self-quarantine order from the government: his father and elder sister were both confirmed infected by MERS. name =AppleHK
> He was later found to have a fever, and was subsequently confirmed infected. He was suspected of dishonestly failing to disclose to Hong Kong border quarantine officers that he had visited his father in hospital on 16 May for nearly 4 hours.
On 30 May 2015, a website said that a driver in Huizhou who transported a South Korean male MERS patient was suspected to be infected but later the government clarified that this was a rumor. A Chinese fugitive who stayed in South Korea for 3 years turned himself in as he was afraid of the outbreak. He arrived at Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport on 4 June. On 8 June 2015, a South Korean couple who did not follow the self-quarantine notice were found to have visited the Philippines on 6 June. They had visited the respective clinics in Sunchang County where a 72-year-old woman was confirmed positive for MERS after having visited the clinic for lumbago treatment. The couple said that they only knew that the 72-old woman was a MERS positive patient only after reading the news.On 9 June 2015, two Hong Kong students from City University of Hong Kong doing a 3-month exchange program in Sungkyunkwan University were ordered by a professor to get out of the classroom as they refused to remove their protective masks. The professor also said that they were too sensitive to the outbreak because of the history of SARS in Hong Kong in 2003. Sungkyunkwan University replied that some professors saw wearing masks as impolite and said if students insist on wearing masks, they might be refused to give presentations in class and may be unable to graduate due to this. Affected students said this reflected that the South Korean public was not attentive to the threat of the MERS outbreak.>On 25 June, a South Korean man who had been treated at a Chinese hospital after being diagnosed with the MERS virus in late May, was released from the hospital and returned to South Korea.>Effects

Education

The following table shows the number of schools that temporarily closed due to the outbreak:
DateNumber of schools closed
2 June 201584
3 June 2015214
4 June 20151,162
5 June 20151,317
7 June 20151,381
8 June 20151,970
9 June 20152,208
15 June 2015475

Economy

On 11 June 2015, South Korea's central bank cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to stem the economic fallout from the outbreak.
South Korea's department store sales decreased by 16.5% compared to the same period last year, and retail shops also decreased 3.4%, according to the Minister of Strategy and Finance, as of June 17, 2015.
As of 17 June 2015, 100,000 tourist visits to the nation had been cancelled.

Testing infrastructure

After the outbreak, South Korea developed a system to rapidly expand testing capabilities during future disease outbreaks. This has been credited as a reason for South Korea's widespread testing and effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic.