(MENAFN- Arab News) SEOUL: South Korea's tally of patients of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) rose to seven on Thursday with authorities saying one suspected victim skipped out of voluntary home quarantine to take a trip to China.
A rise in MERS cases has stirred alarm in South Korea with health authorities being criticized for not moving quickly and effectively enough to quarantine suspected patients.
Two new victims are believed to have caught the virus from the first case confirmed last week a 68-year-old man who had traveled to Bahrain in April and May and returned to South Korea via Qatar.
The Health Ministry said the son of the second confirmed victim in the outbreak who was himself being observed for possible infection broke voluntary home quarantine and left South Korea on Tuesday for China.
'We should have checked more actively and broadly on family related issues. We are deeply sorry about that' Yang Byung-kook director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said that authorities in Guangdong province found the Korean man on Thursday and isolated him in a hospital for treatment.