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Coronavirus claims 24th victim in South Korea

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Another death was reported in South Korea from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or coronavirus, or MERS, on Friday, bringing the total number of victims to 24 since the first case was reported on May 20.

The latest victim is a 75yearold man who contracted the virus while attending to a relative in Seoul’s Samsung Medical Center, the South Korean Health Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry also reported the detection of another MERS case, bringing the total number of infections in South Korea to 166, of which 30 have been discharged after complete recovery.

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The remaining 112 patients, 16 of them in “unstable condition,” are in hospitals, according to the Ministry.

Moreover, a total of 5,930 people, 800 more than Thursday, have been quarantined.

World Health Organization DirectorGeneral Margaret Chan said Thursday, during a visit to Seoul, MERS does not pose a threat to the South Korean society since it is confined to hospitals.

However, she urged local authorities to be on alert to avoid new infections and eradicate it completely.

She also confirmed there was no scientific evidence of the virus having mutated, enabling it to spread more easily than the original outbreak in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

MERS mortality rate in South Korea stands at 14.5 percent and most of the victims are old people or those suffering from serious health problems.

South Korea is the second country, after Saudi Arabia, to record the most number of MERS infections.

Nearly 1,200 coronavirus cases have been detected in the entire world so far.