We start with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS outbreak in Korea.
Let′s go straight to Kim Ji－yeon who joins us at the news center.
Ji－yeon， what′s the latest？ The central government announced that the
MERS death toll had risen to seven as of Tuesday evening，... with the number of confirmed
cases at 95. As a preventative measure， the government
says it will examine all patients with pneumonia in four regions the capital city of Seoul，
Gyeonggi－do province， the city of Daejeon... and the city of Asan in Chungcheongnam－do
province. It also plans to categorize all confirmed
patients according to their conditions. Meanwhile， an official from Samsung Medical
Center has confirmed that a pregnant woman whose due date is later this month... and
was receiving treatment there... has contracted the MERS virus.
The woman， who is in her forties， is reportedly suffering from mild respiratory problems.
We′ll have more on this story as it develops. There are rising concerns that MERS is spreading
to other regions... as two people from Gangwon－do province and another one in Chungcheongbuk－do
province were confirmed earlier today. At this point， is it really possible to
see an end to all this in a week′s time as the government suggests？
For the past few weeks， the government has been criticized for its belated response when
the MERS outbreak began，... mostly for not being able to contain and keep track of those
who had contact with the first patient. But local experts seem to agree that the government
is， to a certain point， going in the right direction... by taking pro－active steps
to contain the virus′s spread. Every day， the central government， the
health ministry and municipal governments have been sharing critical information with
the public about how they′re handling the situation.
Just earlier today， Acting Prime Minister Choi Kyung－hwan set a new goal of trying
to stop the virus′ spread within the week and vowed to mobilize all necessary resources
to combat the virus... including full coverage of all medical expenses for MERS patients.
″There′s a need to deal with the MERS outbreak at the ′serious′ level，...
the country′s highest response level for infectious diseases，... instead of the current
level of ′caution.′″ With this information， the country is taking
numerous steps toward containment. Right after the first MERS case was confirmed
in Okcheon， Chungcheongbuk－do province， health authorities shut down two medical centers
there... where the patient had been undergoing treatment.
Around 22－hundred schools and preschools， which is more than 10－percent of schools
nationwide，... have closed temporarily... to prevent an outbreak among students.
All in all， you can see that the country is working together in this trying time...
and the government′s response is a big part of that... and I′m not the only one who
shares this view. An investigative team from the World Health
Organization，... which arrived
in
the count