Another death takes MERS toll to 33 in South Korea

Another death from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (coronavirus or MERS) has taken the total toll to 33, the South Korean government reported Tuesday.

The latest victim is an 81yearold woman, who suffered cerebral damage before contracting the virus.

Of the 33 people who have died, 30 were either elderly people or were suffering from other health problems.

With this recent death the mortality rate for MERS, for which there is no known cure, has reached 18.1 percent in South Korea.

However, for the third consecutive day, no new MERS infections were detected, the health ministry reported.

The total number of infections now stand at 182 since its outbreak in South Korea on May 20.

According to the ministry, 54 patients are hospitalized and 13 of them are in an “unstable condition.”

Ninetyfive people have been discharged after recovering completely.

Moreover, 2,638 people, who have been in contact with MERS patients have been quarantined, mainly in their homes, in order to control a spread.

MERS, which has a 14day incubation period, first broke out in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, where more than 1,000 cases have been registered since then.

The mortality rate for the disease in the country is around 40 percent.