Cities join fight against MERS

The Ministry of Health and municipalities vowed Sunday to strengthen their mutual efforts to combat the fast-spreading Middle East respiratory syndrome amid escalating public concerns over the central and local governments colliding in attempts to handle the disease.

The health minister and elected leaders of four local city governments ― the Seoul and Daejeon mayors and the Gyeonggi and South Chungcheong provincial governors ― pledged to immediately form a working level consultative body and share information on concerned hospitals and patients.

The ministry also decided to give the authority to cities to diagnose and confirm the contagious disease. So far, only the ministry authorities were permitted to confirm the MERS infection.

“It has been difficult to contain the disease by only monitoring and tracing those who closely came into contact with the confirmed MERS patients (since the situation became serious). The ministry will provide reagents for disease detection to 17 local health organizations where gene tests are available,” said Health Minister Moon Hyung-pyo.

The move came after the discordant MERS responses of the central government and municipalities caused public confusion.

Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung in Gyeonggi Province on Sunday unilaterally released the personal information of a suspected MERS patient ― the address, workplace and the school name of the patient’s children ― on his Facebook to raise the alert, Lee said.

Lee’s independent move, however, stirred controversy as it was posted without consulting education authorities.

Last Thursday, the office of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon also vowed to make its own moves against the MERS outbreak after it found out that a doctor at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul put more than 1,500 residents in danger of contracting the disease by attending three public events.

Park claimed that the information of the confirmed doctor was released only after the city held a meeting with the ministry authorities. He urged the central government to open up the MERS information to cities to better fight the spread of the disease.

The confirmed doctor, however, refuted, saying that the he had attended only two events while the virus was in the incubation period, adding that the city did not correctly check the facts. He also criticized the city government for decrying him as an immoral doctor.

Cheong Wa Dae also expressed regrets over the Seoul mayor’s unilateral move, saying such action could only worsen public fear over MERS.

Seoul Mayor Park fired back at the central government, saying that an excessive response is better than belated action.

Meanwhile, Seoul City strengthened disinfection measures on public transportation and increased medical staff to quickly respond to suspected MERS cases.

The city also urged the public to cancel or postpone large civic events to prevent possible infection.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)