Health Bureau denies isolating South Korean woman

Workers wearing protective gears spray anti-septic solution in an airplane amid rising public concerns over the spread of MERS virus at Incheon International Airport, South Korea

The Health Bureau (SSM) has denied rumors that a South Korean woman had been isolated for possible Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) after she sought treatment at Tap Seac’s public Health Center.
“This information isn’t true and therefore the Health Bureau wishes to clarify that there are no suspected cases [of MERS in Macau,]” SSM said in a statement issued yesterday.
The bureau added that in the case of a patient needing to be put into isolation they would disclose the relevant information in good time.
Although there are no suspected cases of MERS in Macau, authorities are still searching for a South Korean visitor who entered the city after coming into contact with a MERS patient last week (May 26) on Asiana Airlines flight OZ723 from Seoul to Hong Kong.
SSM also clarified yesterday that it did not disclose the personal data of a citizen who had traveled with the initial South Korean MERS patient. “Today a few media outlets released a passport photo of an individual, stating that he had traveled on the same flight as a confirmed [South Korean] MERS patient,” SSM said, adding that the bureau did not provide any media outlets with the man’s passport photo, which is now circulating on the Internet.
“In order to find a South Korean man [who traveled on the same flight as the initial MERS patient], SSM requested the help of local hotels sending them a few details about the individual, namely his name and passport number via a confidential fax,” the bureau stated.
SSM warned citizens to comply with the Personal Data Protection Act, advising them not to release or share the individual’s passport photo. Finally, the bureau has also requested those who have shared the  picture to delete it immediately.
SSM disclosed on Sunday that apart from five passengers who had been identified as being in close contact with the initial MERS patient, there were also 26 Korean passengers on the same flight who visited Macau between May 26 and 28. Border checkpoint records showed that they all left Macau on May 28 and 29, except for one.
The initial patient, a 44-year-old South Korean man who traveled from Seoul to Hong Kong last week ignoring travel warnings, was confirmed as China’s first MERS patient. He neglected to tell a nurse at the airport’s health checkpoint that he had a fever. He later took two buses to Huizhou. CP