South Korea scrambles to contain MERS virus

South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye, has called on her government to do everything possible to stop the spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in the country, as schools close and citizens rush to buy face masks and sanitisers. “South Koreans are getting anxious,” said Park at a meeting with health officials to plan a quarantine strategy.

More than 1600 people were quarantined or under observation on Thursday 4 June, and over 1100 schools had closed their doors. The number of verified cases rose overnight by six to 36, making South Korea’s MERS outbreak the biggest to date outside Saudi Arabia, where the virus has killed …