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New | South Korea declares Mers outbreak is over as last patient undergoes treatment for deadly virus

Premier stops short of declaring country Mers-free as government seeks to turn around dent in economy

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A hospital worker (left) checks the temperature of visitors to the Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul, where most of the Mers cases came from. The hospital recently resumed operations after a quarantine-related shutdown. Photo: AFP

South Korea today declared the effective end to a deadly outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) that killed 36 people, triggered widespread panic and stymied growth in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

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However, with one patient still undergoing treatment in hospital, the announcement by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn stopped short of formally declaring South Korea Mers-free.

Addressing a meeting of government officials in Seoul, Hwang said the danger posed by what was the biggest outbreak of the virus outside Saudi Arabia was over.

“After weighing various circumstances, the medical personnel and the government judge that the people can now be free from worry,” Hwang said.

“I ask the public to shake off all concerns over Mers and to resume normal daily activities, including economic, cultural, leisure and school activities,” he added.

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World Health Organisation standards call for a four-week waiting period after the last Mers patient fully recovers, before declaring the outbreak definitively over.

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