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The isolation ward at Seoul National Medical Center, where the first South Korean patient to be diagnosed with MERS in three years is undergoing treatment. (photo pool)
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Failure to locate individuals could spread fears regarding contagion
The South Korean government has admitted that the whereabouts of more than 70 of the people who came into contact with an anonymous man who has been diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) remain unknown. These include 50 foreigners who entered South Korea on the same plane as the man and 20 or so passengers who were on a limousine taxi with him. If the South Korean government does not hurry to locate and manage these individuals, it could raise fears that the disease will spread. This information came to light on the afternoon of Sept. 10 when the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced the interim results of its investigation into the route taken by the infected man. The limousine taxi that the man used to move from Incheon International Airport to Samsung Medical Center from 5:46 pm to 7:20 pm on Sept. 8 appears to have been a hole in the disease control dragnet. The driver of the limousine taxi initially testified that he hadn’t given rides to any other passengers, but investigators found that 23 credit card payments had been made in the driver’s taxi between the time that the infected man got out and the time that the driver was identified as having come into close contact with the infected man. The KCDC is reviewing credit card records to identity the people who made these payments, who were presumably passengers in the taxi. With 23 credit card payments, the actual number of passengers could have been higher. These individuals will be considered to have had indirect contact with the infected man. They are not included in the current count of 417 people who had indirect contact with him. The government has also reportedly been unable to determine the location of a considerable number of the 115 foreigners who entered the country on the same plane as the infected man. On Sept. 10, the KCDC said that it was currently unable to establish contact with 50 of them. The KCDC is attempting to make contact with them with the help of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Korea Immigration Service and the embassies of the countries they are from. Four of the individuals who were in contact with the infected man have reportedly exhibited symptoms that resemble those of MERS. All four of these individuals tested negative in the first round of tests, but the final decision about their status will be made after the second round of tests is concluded. “We’ve determined that 21 people came into close contact with the infected man and 417 came into indirect contact with him, and these people are being looked after by their respective local government bodies. One of those who came into close contact and three of those who came into indirect contact exhibited MERS-like symptoms but the first battery of tests came back negative. We’re currently planning to run a second battery of tests,” the KCDC said. One of those being tested was a British woman who was discharged from the hospital on Monday afternoon after being given a clean bill of health. The woman had received two rounds of tests at the National Medical Center in Seoul, both of which came back negative. By Hwang Ye-rang, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
