The ruthless and unforgiving MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome) has been prevalent in South Korea over the past few weeks. Originating in Saudi Arabia, MERS has spread to South Korean areas, starting with a South Korean man who came back with this deadly disease after a business trip to the Middle East. Just yesterday, there have been 9 recorded deaths and more than 2,500 quarantined. 2,400 schools are being closed just in the Gangnam district due to this virus.
Many citizens believe that the government is not working hard enough to contain and control this disease. Chun Sung Bae, along with many other citizens, blames the president of South Korea for the mere spread of the disease. However, President Park Geun Hye took measures to even cancel her meeting with President Obama to take care of this serious issue, giving her best effort to help her people. The government has assured its people of its determination, as Chief Press Office of the Blue House Kim Seong Woo stated, “Since the first priority is to be placed on the safety of the nation, she will postpone the visit to U.S. and resolve the uneasiness of the public.”
The government has taken some interesting approaches to try to contain the spread of MERS. The obvious one has been be that everywhere, citizens must wear a mask to protect themselves. If anyone shows signs of MERS, he or she is quarantined immediately. Additionally, the government tracks smart phones to monitor those who have been quarantined and the places they called and visited. Whether this may provide comfort or act as an invasion of privacy, it does not matter because the government can access the phones. Still, most of those quarantined are okay with this type of tracking.
Surprisingly, some of those affected have been stating that they have not been very hurt from MERS. Out of the 9 that did die, most of them had health problems prior to contracting MERS, such as diabetes or underlying respiratory complications. Thus, many that did not have any previous medical conditions were not affected as severely and are able to live a normal life. This being said, there are still many who suffer from this condition, so it is not something to be taken lightly.
