On Saturday South Korea detected a case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, the first one in three years.
Today, the Prime Minister convened a special inter-ministerial meeting... to look at ways to contain the deadly virus.
Our Choi Si-young has more.
After a 61-year-old man tested positive for MERS on Saturday upon returning to Seoul from Kuwait, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon presided over an emergency inter-ministerial meeting on Sunday at the Seoul Government Complex.
"In 2015, we learned that it's better to overreact to an outbreak than to be late in our response. I encourage everyone here to act on that lesson."
At the meeting, the PM called on civil servants to be prepared for any contingencies, so that people don't have to worry.
He encouraged the officials to keep the public updated about the MERS outbreak online through their ministries' websites.
The minister also urged anyone who has come in contact with the people under quarantine to come forward... to help stop the spread of the highly contagious virus.
The first MERS patient, identified only as a Seoul resident, had visited a local medical center in Kuwait to get treatment for diarrhea,... and then sought additional treatment on Friday at Samsung Medical Center.
Suspected of having caught MERS, he was then transferred to Seoul National University Hospital and placed under quarantine after testing positive.
22 others suspected of having come in contact with him are also under quarantine.
They'll be tested and monitored for the next two weeks, the virus's maximum incubation period.
The first case of MERS in Korea was confirmed in 2015,... and 38 people died... before the outbreak was declared over in December of the same year.
Choi Si-young, Arirang News.
