SEOUL—Experts in South Korea said schools in the country may remain shut for “several more days” until they are able to fully understand the nature of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) despite findings that it is not transmitted by air.
They also said that wearing masks is important to prevent the transmission of the virus and to protect those who are not infected.
However, people in the streets and at the airport interviewed by the BusinessMirror do not care about the virus. Only a few wear face masks and most of them are middle-aged persons.
“It’s not serious,” two college male students, who refuse to wear masks, said.
“Don’t wear masks anymore,” a woman airport attendant said. “The scare is only caused by [the] media.”
Recent reports said more than 2,000 schools have been closed in South Korea and the infection has killed seven and afflicted around 100.
“Separation is very important,” Kee-jong Hong, director of Institut Pasteur, told the BusinessMirror when asked why the schools were closed despite the nontransmission of the virus in areas other than hospitals.
“[They could be closed for] several more days,” he added. Hong told the more than 1,000 participants to the World Conference of Science Journalists in Seoul that experts are still trying to understand the virus that still has no cure and no vaccine.
“It looks like influenza…the structure is simple, but mutation can occur,” Hong said, adding that foreign experts have said that “it is likely that is has not mutated yet,” but if it would occur, “it is not significant.”
The spread of the virus from a 68-year-old man from Saudi Arabia in the hospitals in South Korea was caused by many patients sharing hospital rooms, said Sung-han Kim, associate professor of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Asan Medical Center.
The emergency room is crowded, there is limited hospital human resources and there is a culture of family members visiting their hospitalized relatives, he said.
He added that, in hospital, precaution is necessary, like in the washing of hands.
“There is need to be stringent in adhering to standard procedures,” Kim said, although he admitted that there is low rate of transmission because the “initial patients were successfully isolated which helped control the spread of the virus.”