South Korea | Park delays US trip as ninth MERS victim dies

People wearing face masks ride onboard a subway train in Incheon, South Korea

South Korea’s President Park Geun Hye postponed a U.S. trip to oversee her government’s handling of the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak, which claimed two more lives amid warnings of damage to the economy.
Park, facing pressure from lawmakers including one from her own party, postponed her U.S. visit due to start on June 14 that would have included a meeting with President Barack Obama. It will be rescheduled at the earliest possible time, her office said in a statement yesterday.
South Korea’s MERS outbreak is the second-largest after Saudi Arabia, and comes at a time when the country’s exports are shrinking and banks are lowering growth forecasts for Asia’s fourth-largest economy. The government is trying to avoid a repeat of the slump in consumer spending that followed the Sewol ferry sinking last year.
“She’s more worried about the economic implications of MERS than the virus itself,” Hong Sung Gul, a professor of policy studies at Kookmin University in Seoul said by phone. “The economy faces structural difficulties and if the government botches its handling of MERS while she’s away it would seriously hurt South Korea’s global reputation.”
Park’s decision followed Finance Minister Choi Kyung Hwan’s announcement of 400 billion won (USD357 million) of support for small businesses affected by the outbreak, especially those related to tourism and entertainment. The government has pledged to end the virus’s spread by this week.
“Complete control is possible now because MERS has been spreading at medical institutions and not to the general public,” Choi said at a meeting in Sejong, south of Seoul. “Having said that, I’m worried it’s making life more difficult for small businesses, as well as ordinary citizens, if the situation goes on for long and public concern increases.”
The number of new MERS cases rose by 13 to 108, with nine deaths, the country’s health ministry said in an e-mailed statement. A total of 3,439 people are in isolation, of which 180 are in hospitals, and more than 2,400 schools are closed.
The World Health Organization yesterday urged South Korea to re-open the schools, saying they have not been linked to the transmission of the virus anywhere.
The latest deaths are a 62-year-old man with a history of liver cancer and a 75-year-old female with a history of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells. Both came into contact with a MERS patient in the same hospital emergency room, the health ministry said.
Authorities have said all the infections have taken place in hospitals, indicating the virus hasn’t spread into the community. Still, the government has faced criticism both at home and overseas for missteps in its response, in particular over its initial refusal to name the hospitals involved.
“This week is a critical period, considering the virus incubation period,” Choi said at a later televised briefing, speaking in his capacity as acting prime minister. “The situation will settle down if we manage to avoid large numbers of additional infections.”
Choi urged people to continue ordinary economic activity because the MERS virus cannot spread through the air. Tour operators in South Korea have reported cancellations including by groups from China.
Hong Kong and Macau on Tuesday issued warnings against unnecessary travel to South Korea, while Japan and China have said they’ve strengthened monitoring of inbound travelers to prevent the virus’s spread. China’s only current MERS patient arrived on a flight from South Korea, prompting criticism from the country’s official Xinhua News Agency.
The MERS outbreak comes weeks after the anniversary of the Sewol ferry sinking that killed 300 people, and has drawn parallels with the government’s botched handling of that tragedy. Park’s approval rating is near an all-time low.
“She really desperately needs something momentous that’s positive to redefine her legacy, otherwise it’s Sewol,” John Delury, a political science professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University, said Tuesday. “This is having the opposite effect. It reminds everyone of many of the same things that didn’t go right then or are not going right now.”
South Korea’s economy has yet to fully recover from the slump in sentiment caused by the outpouring of grief over the disaster. Expansion last year was 3.3 percent, compared with 4 percent projected by the Bank of Korea just a few days before the ferry went down with more than 300 people aboard.
The central bank’s most recent outlook is for gross domestic product to increase 3.1 percent.
The political fallout from MERS and backlash against Park may grow if infections continue to rise, said Kookmin University’s Hong.
“It’s excessive to place all blame on her for the spread of MERS,” Hong said. “Yet the final responsibility lies with her, and she has a chance to turn the situation around by making aggressive public gestures that she’s doing all she can to fight MERS.” Sam Kim, Cynthia Kim and Shinhye Kang, Bloomberg

WHO recommends reopening schools closed over MERS

Experts from the World Health Organization and South Korea yesterday urged the reopening of nearly 2,500 schools closed over fears of the deadly MERS virus. “Strong consideration should be given to re-opening schools, as schools have not been linked to transmission of” the MERS virus in South Korea, according to a release from the joint WHO-South Korea mission tasked with reviewing the outbreak. Other South Korean doctors have already described the massive school closures as nonsensical because there has been no evidence of the virus’ transmission in the community. It’s not known how many schools would follow the recommendation. But South Korean officials hope the outbreak will come under control around tomorrow, the last day of the virus’ maximum two-week incubation period for those infected by a patient considered as the main source of the second round of the MERS outbreak. Officials say the first wave of the outbreak ended.