Suspected Patients Put Under Closer Watch
By Chung Hyun-chae
The government said Sunday it will increase monitoring of all suspected Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) patients for stricter control of the situation.
“Those who were ordered to stay at their homes over possible exposure to confirmed patients will be monitored one-to-one by local government officials or regional public medical center staffers,” Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said during a media briefing at the government complex in Sejong City.
He said the government may track down such people’s locations by using the signals of their mobile phones if they refuse to follow the quarantine order.
“Those people may experience inconvenience through the one-on-one monitoring or location tracking. We ask them to cooperate to relieve public concerns,” Choi said.
The measures came after the government failed to check those subject to quarantine. In one case, a woman in southern Seoul was ordered to stay at home but went to play golf in Gochang, North Jeolla Province.
The number of people who were quarantined at government-designated facilities or ordered to stay at homes stood at more than 2,360 as of Sunday.