(3rd LD) After 4-day hiatus, new MERS case reported in S. Korea

(ATTN: UPDATES with new confirmed case in lead, paras 3-6)

SEJONG, July 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea reported two additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Thursday, bringing the total number of people diagnosed with the disease here to 184.

However, the country reported no additional MERS-related deaths for two consecutive days since Tuesday with its death toll from the potentially deadly disease standing at 33, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Out of the 184 people diagnosed with the disease so far, 102 have been discharged from hospitals following complete recoveries.

The new patients were all female nurses from Seoul's Samsung Medical Center.

One of the two had been tested positive in an initial test on Thursday morning, but was finally confirmed in the evening.

With the latest two cases, the hospital is responsible for 89 of all infections, including 14 medical staffers.

The hospital, run by the country's largest conglomerate Samsung Group, had voluntarily shut down most of its operations until June 24.

The health ministry later extended the shutdown indefinitely as the hospital continued to report new infection cases.

Some 90 hospitals throughout the country have been affected by MERS since the country reported its outbreak on May 20. A list of the MERS-affected hospitals is daily updated and available on the ministry's website.

In addition to those diagnosed, 2,238 people are currently in isolation as of Thursday for possible infection after coming in close contact with MERS patients.

The number dropped from 2,451 on the previous day. So far, some 13,821 others have been subject to isolation as suspected cases. Those subject to isolation are released after they show no symptoms of MERS for more than the known maximum incubation period of 14 days and test negative for the disease.

MERS is a viral respiratory disease whose symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath. It had claimed over 400 lives throughout the country since it was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

The fatality rate of the disease had been tallied at above 40 percent until the outbreak here, but in South Korea the fatality rate remains at around 18 percent.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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