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People wear masks as a precaution against an outbreak of the Mers virus in South Korea. Photo: AP

Hong Kong considers extending health watch on South Korea as new Mers infections confirmed

Mers virus
Lai Ying-kit

Hong Kong is considering extending its watch on the health situation in South Korea after two new cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome were reported in that country.

A "red" travel alert for South Korea was first issued on June 9, which health authorities earlier said they would only consider cancelling if no new cases of the virus were reported for 28 consecutive days.

However, after four days during which there were no cases, health secretary Dr Ko Wing-man today said that the clock may need to be reset after two new infections were confirmed yesterday and today in Seoul.

“Sometimes the reporting of cases might be delayed. But if the two cases were infected, confirmed and isolated in the past couple of days, then we will need to restart our count,” Ko told Metro radio.

Ko said the Centre for Health Protection would seek further information from South Korea on the latest cases, such as when they were infected and confirmed, to assess the risk.

The latest cases brought to 184 the total number of people diagnosed with Mers in South Korea in the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia.

Tour agencies in Hong Kong yesterday decided that no group tours would be organised for South Korea this month. They have cancelled group tours to the country since early last month when the travel alert was issued.

Hong Kong’s “red” alert for South Korea was the first health-related security warning it had ever issued.

The last “red” travel alert was issued for Nepal on April 27, following the massive earthquake there.

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