More MERS cases are confirmed in Korea，... 8 were reported overnight，... and the death
toll reaches seven.
For more， let′s connect to Connie Kim at the news center.
Connie， give us the latest.
Guys， the official tally of infected patients stands at 95.
But an official from the Samsung Medical Center... where some MERS patients are being treated...
say a pregnant woman in her 40s has tested positive for the disease.
It′s reported she had contracted the virus at their emergency room where a MERS patient
was also at.
If confirmed， it would be the first case of a pregnant woman catching the virus.
Although the health ministry had said... that this will be the week that the MERS outbreak
peaks， newly confirmed cases show that the virus is still spreading nationwide.
Today...
two of the new MERS infections were confirmed in Gangwon－do Province while another was
said to be in Chungcheongbuk－do Province.
Taking a closer look... up until yesterday， MERS cases were detected in four regions in
Korea including Seoul and Gyeonggi－do Province where the most infections have been confirmed.
Has the government announced any new measures today in fighting the disease？
In a press briefing this morning， acting Prime Minister Choi Kyung－hwan promised
all－out efforts to contain the virus.
Starting tomorrow，... the MERS Central Response Headquarters and the MERS task force team
will run virus testing on all... hospitalized pneumonia patients... in the four regions
where the virus has been tracked.
If they test positive，… any newly confirmed patients will be strictly isolated in a one－person
quarantine facility... to prevent secondary and tertiary infections.
Also， the government said it will shoulder all medical expenses for MERS patients and
costs associated with virus testing.
It is also planning to allocate more funds to create special containment wards capable
of blocking further spread of the outbreak.
How are health experts assessing the government′s response measures？
We hear they proposed some ideas in countering the outbreak.
Health experts and lawmakers at the parliamentary health committee met this afternoon.
They emphasized that more adequate medical supplies need to be provided to smaller hospitals...
as well as MERS－test kits to hospitals and state－designated quarantine centers.
Let′s hear what they had to say in addition to the measures laid out by the government.
″If the government wants hospitals to actively be a part of treating this disease， it needs
to promise it will support hospitals that are financially hit by any fallout.″
″Right now it takes at least three hours for the current diagnostic equipment to confirm
the virus after testing is done.
But hospitals should come out with test results as quickly as possible so it can resolve patients′
fears.″
Although there is no case of MERS contractions outside the hospital， the country is still
battling fears of MERS infections.
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