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1st New MERS Case Confirmed in Korea

A 61-year-old Korea man who had been visiting Kuwait was diagnosed with Middle East respiratory syndrome on Saturday afternoon.

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It was the first case of MERS in the country since the outbreak (here)three years ago.

He has been transferred from Samsung Medical Center to Seoul National University Hospital, which has an isolation ward.

Both the patient and the hospital were faster to respond than (the way it dealt with)in 2015, raising hopes that the outbreak can be better contained this time round.

According to health authorities, the patient felt unwell on arrival at Incheon International Airport on Friday afternoon. He immediately took a taxi and called Samsung Medical Center on his way to inform it that he had been in the Middle East.

The hospital checked him into an isolated section on arrival and later moved him into a negative pressure room.

The hospital reported to authorities the same night that there was a suspected case of MERS and transferred him to SNU Hospital early next morning.

When his diagnosis was confirmed on Saturday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put 22 people who had been in close contact with the patient in isolation at home.

In 2015, 186 people were diagnosed with MERS here and 38 of them died. Most of the patients were infected in hospital. But this time the MERS patient did not come into contact with other patients in the hospital.

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