President Park Geun-hye Tuesday asked South Koreans not to overreact to the MERS virus to ensure the disease will not deal a blow to Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Many South Koreans have shunned public places out of concern they could contract the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus, a move that officials said could hurt tourism, retail and other sectors.
“We are in a situation to clearly bring MERS under control,” Park said in a Cabinet meeting, noting that all infections have occurred inside hospitals.
The death toll from the virus rose to seven as of Tuesday morning while the number of confirmed MERS patients climbed to 95.
“The people may be concerned, but I hope that they will not overreact and cooperate to ensure that economic activities will not be weakened,” Park said.
Her comments came amid growing fears that sluggish exports, hit by the weak Japanese yen, are likely to hamper recovery in a country where exports account for about half of its gross domestic product.
Outbound shipments dropped 10.9 percent on-year in May, falling the most in nearly six years.
She called on officials to come up with diverse measures to boost exports and to provide support for businesses and areas hit hard by the MERS outbreak.
“Related ministries should take all preemptive measures to minimize the economic impact caused by the MERS outbreak,” Park said. (Yonhap)
