Many Chinese tourists travel to South Korea. (Photo : www.cbc.ca)
Health authorities have approved the release of 75 people from MERS quarantine after all of them tested negative for infection twice.
Xu Angao, director of Huizhou's health department, said that all 75 people tested negative for infection after two tests.
"Dealing with the outbreak of MERS is really like a fight of epidemic prevention. We've fought hard until the deadline, midnight of June 10. All people in close contact with the person who had contracted MERS have lived up to the medical standard to be released from MERS quarantine," Xu was quoted as saying.
All 75 people had earlier come in close contact with the man from South Korea who tested positive for MERS infection while in Guandong. He was the first confirmed case of MERS in the region.
It was earlier reported that the 44-year-old man got infected after he visited a MERS patient at a South Korean hospital. He showed symptoms of infection as early as May 21.
The Guangdong Health and Family Planning Commission, however, assured the public that the patient is now in a stable condition and has not had a fever for a few days, although he has occasional coughs and his lungs remain inflamed.
The commission had earlier released 44 people from quarantine on June 9, Tuesday, and the rest were released the following day, June 10.
In South Korea, 14 new cases of MERS infection have been reported, which brought to 112 the total number of cases, and 10 people had already died.
The first confirmed case of MERS in South Korea was reported on May 20. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
The first human case was recorded in Saudi Arabia in 2012. No vaccine or treatment for the disease has been created yet against the illness, which has a fatality rate of about 40 percent.
