South Korea has introduced a new law designed to curb a Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak, tightening quarantine restrictions and imposing jail sentences on those who defy anti-infection measures in a crisis that has now left 31 dead.
Under the new regulations, passed in the South Korean parliament late on Thursday, people infected with the virus who lie to state investigators about how they came into contact with the disease will face a fine or a prison sentence.
“False testimony would entail up to two years in prison or 20 million won [US$17,800] in fines,” the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare said about the new regulations.
Photo: AFP
“Interviewees will [now] feel compelled to provide honest answers,” the ministry said.
The new law also strengthens officials’ power to restrict the movement of infected people and close contaminated facilities, with offenders who refuse to follow their orders also facing two years in prison or an US$18,000 fine.
The number of state health workers in charge of preventing outbreaks and tracing them is also to be doubled to more than 60.
The legislation comes as the South Korean government is facing criticism for failing to stop the MERS outbreak, which has now become the largest outside Saudi Arabia.
Two new fatalities were reported yesterday, the health ministry said — both women, aged 79 and 80, who had existing health conditions.
A doctor at Seoul’s Samsung Medical Center, the hospital to which nearly half of all infections have been traced, was also confirmed to have contracted the disease.
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